THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 

COLLEGE 

PRESENTED  BY 

William  E.  Roterts 


9-^/67^ 


SLOYD 


BY 


GUSTAF    LARSSON 

PRINCIPAL     SLOYD     TRAINING     SCHOOL 
BOSTON,     MASSACHUSETTS 


Copyright 

Bt  Gustaf  Larsson 

1902 


I  en 


UMVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
SANTA  BARRi^^    C'^'LLEGE  UBRAO^' 


69059 


TO 

MRS.   QUINCY  A.   SHAW 

IN  GRATEFUL  RECOGNITION 

OF  HER  INSPIRING 

SYMPATHY  AND  CO-OPERATION 

IN  MY  WORK 


PREFACE. 


The  following  papers  have  been  collected  and  printed  at  the  re- 
quest of  several  friends,  who  have  felt  that  the  educational  char- 
acter and  the  universal  need  of  Sloyd  should  be  better  and  more 
generally  understood.  These  papers  have  been  read  at  different 
times  and  places,  and  consequently  contain  some  unavoidable  repe- 
tition. 

Unfortunately,  Sloyd  has  often  been  superficially  judged  from  its 
outward  symbols  only,  while  the  vital  principles  for  which  it 
stands  have  been  overlooked.  It  is  hoped  that  this  little  publica- 
tion may  help  to  convince  teachers  and  other  promoters  of  educa- 
tion that  the  principles  of  Sloyd  are  broad  and  universal,  and  that 
as  an  effective  educational  agent  it  deserves  a  place  in  our  schools. 

I  am  greatly  indebted  to  my  fellow-workers  for  valuable  aid  and 
suggestions  in  preparing  these  papers,  especially  to  the  teachers 
and  friends  of  the  Sloyd  Training  School,  who  have  earnestly  co- 
operated with  me  in  the  work. 

GUSTAF  LARSSON. 

Sloyd  Training  School, 

Boston,  Massachusetts, 

May,  1902. 


CONTENTS. 

Paper  P>g« 

I.     Educational     Manual     Training     or    Sloyd.     Illustrated. 
Read  before  the   National    Summer  School,   Glens  Falls, 

NX,  July,  I  891 9 

II.  Sloyd  for  Elementary  Schools,  as  Contrasted  with  the 
Russian  System  of  Manual  Training,  Illustrated. 
Read  at  the  International  Congress  of  Education  of  the 
World's  Columbian  Exposition,  Chicago,  July   26,  1893,      19 

III.  Sloyd    as    a    Means    of    General    Education.     Read  at  a 

meeting  of  the  California  State  Teachers'  Association  in 
Stockton,  Dec.  26,  1893 27 

IV.  A  Few  Facts  concerning  the  Work  of  the  Sloyd  Train- 

ing   School,    Boston.       Illustrated.      Presented    at    the 
Graduating  Exercises,  May  25,  1895 35 

V.  Sloyd.  Read  before  the  Connecticut  State  Teachers'  Associa- 
tion at  New  Haven,  Oct.  16,  1896 39 

VI.  Some  Observations  on  Manual  Training  in  Europe  and 
America.  Read  at  the  meeting  of  the  Committee  on 
Manual    Training    of    the     New    England     Educational 

Workers,  Nov.   11,  1896 47 

VII.     Manual    Training    as   a  Factor    in    Physical    Education. 
Illustrated.      Read  before  the  Boston  Society  for  Advance- 
ment of  Physical  Education,  Feb.  II,  1897       .     .     .     .      58 
VIII,      Manual    Training.       Read    at    the    meering    of    the    State 

Teachers'  Association  at  Concord,  N.H,,  Oct.  20,  1900,     63 

IX.  An  Answer  to  Some  of  the  Common  Objections  to  Sloyd. 
Read  at  the  meeting  of  the  Marlborough  Teachers'  Asso- 
ciation, Feb.  10,  1902.      Chart  and  Illustrations     ...     69 


I. 

EDUCATIONAL    MANUAL   TRAINING,    OR 

SLOYD. 

Paper  read  at  the  meeting  of  the  Teachers'  National  Summer  School  at 
Glens  Falls,  N.Y.,  July,  1891. 

In  beginning  to  speak  upon  manual  training,  and  espe- 
cially that  form  of  manual  training  known  as  Sloyd,  I  must 
ask  your  indulgence,  as  I  still  have  difficulty  in  using  your 
language.  If,  however,  you  will  give  me  your  kind  atten- 
tion and  patient  sympathy,  I  will  try  to  tell  you  something 
of  what  I  have  learned  on  this  subject. 

Most  of  the  exponents  of  the  various  systems  of  manual 
training  agree  that  education  is  the  end  to  be  obtained,  but 
they  differ  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  word  "  education." 
Some  think  that  it  refers  only  to  a  training  for  purely 
mental  development,  while  others  think  it  refers  to  a  train- 
ing for  the  sake  of  getting  a  livelihood.  Most  progressive 
thinkers  and  writers  upon  the  subject,  however,  claim  that 
the  hand  should  be  employed,  as  a  tool  of  the  brain,  to 
supplement  prevailing  methods  and  to  develop  general 
power. 

This  is  often  called  the  "  new  education " ;  but  the 
history  of  education,  as  far  back  as  the  fifteenth  century, 
and  even  long  before,  gives  us  ideas  similar  to  those  ex- 
pressed by  our  modern  leaders.  In  order  to  show  that  the 
aim  of  educational  manual  training  is  but  an  outgrowth  of 
the  aim  of  general  education,  as  it  has  for  a  long  time  been 
understood,  I  shall  quote  from  several  recognized  au- 
thorities :  — 

Johann  Amos  Comenius  (i 592-1671),  who  has  been 
called  the  "  father  of  modern  education,"  says  in  some  of 


lO 


his  numerous  treatises  on  the  educational  value  of  manual 
work :  "  Let  everything  be  communicated  through  the 
senses,  and  turned  to  present  use.  Let  nothing  be  pre- 
scribed as  a  memory-task,  that  has  not  previously  been 
thoroughly  understood.  Leave  nothing,  until  it  has  been 
impressed  by  means  of  the  ear,  the  eye,  the  tongue,  the 
hand.  Let  nothing  be  learned  by  authority,  but  by  demon- 
stration, sensible  and  rational.  Above  all,  never  teach 
words  without  things,  even  in  the  vernacular ;  and  whatever 
the  pupils  see,  hear,  taste,  or  touch,  let  them  name.  The 
tongue  and  the  intelligence  should  advance  on  parallel 
lines.  For  the  beginning  of  knowledge  is  from  pure  sense, 
not  from  words  ;  and  truth  and  certitude  are  testified  to  by 
the  evidence  of  the  senses.  The  senses  are  the  most  faith- 
ful stewards  of  the  memory.  The  study  of  language  should 
run  parallel  with  the  study  of  things ,  especially  in  youth, 
for  we  desire  to  form  men^  not  parrot sT 

By  this  we  see  that  Comenius,  who  lived  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  had  a  clear  idea  of  that  for  which  our  edu- 
cational reformers  to-day  are  striving. 

Jean  Jacques  Rousseau  (1712— 1778),  who  also  preached 
the  "gospel  of  natural  education,"  says:  "Instead  of 
fastening  the  child  to  his  books,  if  I  employ  him  in  a  work- 
shop, his  hands  work  to  the  advantage  of  his  brain,  he 
becomes  a  philosopher  and  thinks  himself  only  a  workman. 
Indeed,  this  exercise  has  other  advantages  of  which  I  will 
speak  hereafter;  and  we  shall  see  how  from  the  workings 
of  philosophy  one  can  elevate  himself  to  the  true  function 
of  manhood."  "  Work  !  "  he  says,  "  if  not  from  necessity, 
then  because  of  the  dignity  of  work.  One  must  work  like 
a  peasant  and  think  like  a  philosopher,  unless  he  be  as 
worthless  as  a  savage.  The  great  secret  of  education  is  to 
make  the  exercises  of  the  body  and  of  the  spirit  serve  each 
to  relieve  the  other." 

Frederick  Frobel  (1782-1852),  founder  of  the  kinder- 
garten, has  of  course  made  familiar  the  idea  that  manual 


II 


work  should  be  used  continually  as  an  effective  means  of 
education,  on  which  principle,  indeed,  his  system  entirely 
depends.  To  quote  Frobel,  in  this  connection,  would  be 
to  quote  everything  he  has  written ;  for  we  should  find,  as 
his  leading  thought,  this  text :  "  Man  only  understands 
thoroughly  that  which  he  is  able  to  produce." 

The  eminent  English  scholar  and  scientist.  Sir  James 
Chrichton  Browne,  tells  us  that  certain  portions  of  the 
brain  are  developed  between  the  ages  of  four  and  fourteen 
years  by  manual  exercises  alone.  He  also  says,  "  It  is 
plain  that  the  highest  functional  activity  of  these  motor  cen- 
tres is  a  thing  to  be  aimed  at  with  a  view  to  general  mental 
power  as  well  as  with  a  view  to  muscular  expertness  ;  and 
as  the  hand  centres  hold  a  prominent  place  among  the 
motor  centres,  and  are  in  relation  with  an  organ  which  in 
prehension,  in  touch,  and  in  a  thousand  different  combina- 
tions of  movement,  adds  enormously  to  our  intellectual  re- 
sources, thoughts,  and  sentiments,  it  is  plain  that  the  high- 
est possible  functional  activity  of  these  hand  centres  is  of 
paramount  importance  not  less  to  mental  grasp  than  to  in- 
dustrial success."  Again  he  says,  "  Depend  upon  it  that 
much  of  the  confusion  of  thought,  awkwardness,  bashful- 
ness,  stutterings,  stupidity,  and  irresolution  which  we  en- 
counter in  the  world,  and  even  in  highly  educated  men  and 
women,  is  dependent  on  defective  or  misdirected  muscular 
training,  and  that  the  thoughtful  and  diligent  cultivation  of 
this  is  conducive  to  breadth  of  mind  as  well  as  to  breadth 
of  shoulders." 

In  a  treatise  on  "  The  Influence  of  Manual  Training  on 
Character,"  Dr.  Adler  makes  a  strong  point  when  he  calls 
attention  to  some  of  the  dangers  to  boys  arising  from 
weakness  of  will,  such  as  sensuaHty,  vacillation  of  purpose, 
"  mental  incoherency,  indolence,  a  deficiency  in  the  sense 
of  shame" ;  and  he  then  shows  how  the  will  may  be 
strengthened  by  that  training  which  gives  the  power  of 
adapting  means  to  ends, —  of  giving  a  "  connectedness  be- 


12 


tween  ideas," — and  this,  he  says,  can  most  readily  be  done 
by  "  manual  training,"  because  manual  training  is  interest- 
ing to  the  young, —  even  to  the  young  criminal. 

"By  manual  training,"  says  Dr.  Adler,  "we  cultivate 
the  intellect  in  close  and  inseparable  connection  with  action. 
Manual  training  consists  of  a  series  of  actions,  which 
are  controlled  by  the  mind  and  which  always  react  on  it." 
He  then  points  out  how  the  attention  and  interest  is  ex- 
cited in  the  child's  mind  in  making  something  of  real  use. 
He  shows  how  the  variety  of  manipulation,  in  making  an 
object,  constantly  stimulates  interest,  and  how  at  the  same 
time  the  carefully  graded  exercises  teach  the  pupil  in  an 
elementary  way  "  the  lesson  of  subordinating  minor  ends 
to  a  major  end";  and  when,  at  last,  with  triumph,  the 
child  contemplates  his  finished  work,  the  pleasure  of 
achievement  comes  in  to  crown  his  experience,  and  this 
sense  of  achievement  leaves  in  his  mind  a  sense  of  pleasant 
enthusiasm  which  will  stimulate  him  to  similar  work  in  the 
future.  "  The  child,"  he  says,  "  that  has  once  acquired,  in 
connection  with  the  making  of  a  box,  the  habits  just  de- 
scribed, has  mastered  the  secret  of  a  strong  will,  and  will  be 
able  to  apply  the  same  habits  in  other  directions  and  on 
other  occasions." 

Dr.  Adler  further  says  :  "  I  have  thus  far  attempted  to 
show  how  the  will  can  be  made  strong.  But  a  strong  will 
is  not  necessarily  a  good  will.  It  is  true  there  are  in- 
fluences in  manual  training,  as  it  has  been  described,  which 
are  favorable  to  a  virtuous  disposition.  Squareness  in 
things  is  not  without  relation  to  squareness  in  action  and 
thinking.  A  child  that  has  learned  to  be  exact  —  that  is, 
truthful  in  his  work — will  be  inclined  to  be  scrupulous 
and  truthful  in  his  speech,  in  his  thoughts,  and  in  his 
acts." 

I  like  to  dwell  upon  the  moral  influence  of  the  work 
which  is  so  efi^ectively  emphasized  by  Dr.  Adler,  because  I 
believe  that  without  definite  and  adequate  provision  for  the 


13 

moral  growth  of  children  in  elementary  schools  the  higher 
educational  institutions  can  hardly  reach  the  desired  standard. 
The  moral  effect  of  manual  training  is  often  apparent  in  the 
child's  behavior  and  in  his  respect  for  his  skilful  school- 
mates. Some  teachers  have  observed  that  more  accurate 
thinking  and  improved  methods  of  study,  especially  in 
arithmetic,  have  resulted  from  manual  training.  It  gives  a 
child  independent  standards.  He  loves  good  work,  likes  to 
be  useful,  prefers  occupation  to  idleness  ;  and  thus  the  germs 
of  good  citizenship  are  planted  at  the  time  most  favorable 
to  growth  and  development.  A  healthy  impetus  is  also 
given  to  the  moral  nature  by  the  improved  physical  condi- 
tion resulting  from  this  training.  A  freer  circulation  pro- 
motes health,  increases  happiness,  and  opens  a  wav  to  the 
best  impulses  of  the  heart.  The  youthful  energy,  which  is 
often  too  much  confined  to  the  exercise  of  the  brain  alone, 
finds,  by  the  use  of  tools,  a  natural  outlet  in  the  bodily 
powers. 

I  could,  if  it  seemed  best,  fill  my  paper  with  telling  quo- 
tations and  illustrations  ;  and,  if  I  seem  already  to  borrow 
too  much  from  others  who  have  spoken  on  this  subject,  it 
is  because  they  have  expressed  the  ideas  which  I  hold  better 
than  my  limited  knowledge  of  the  English  language  enables 
me  to  do.  You  will  see  the  same  leading  thought  in  the 
writings  of  such  men  as  Locke,  Franke,  Basedow,  Salzmann, 
Pestalozzi,  Herbart,  and  other  great  promoters  of  education. 
Most  of  the  educational  reformers  to-day  seem  to  be  work- 
ing in  the  same  spirit.  It  is  indeed  interesting  to  me  to 
find  with  what  intelligence  and  thoroughness  the  subject  has 
been  discussed  by  many  of  the  leading  men  in  this  country; 
and  it  is  all  the  more  surprising  to  find  how  little  in  har- 
mony with  the  theories  of  these  reformers  are  the  prevailing 
methods  of  manual  training. 

It  will  be  seen  that  manual  training  should  mean  much 
more  than  training  of  hand  and  eye.  It  should  mean  the 
intelligent  exercise  of  the  whole  body.     The  restlessness  of 


14 

the  children  should  be  turned  to  good  account.  The  sed- 
entary occupations,  such  as  knitting,  sewing,  paper  work, 
clay  modelling,  etc.,  are  good  as  far  as  they  go ;  but  there  is 
an  unanswered  cry  in  every  child's  nature  which  will  not  be 
satisfied  until  every  muscle  is  brought  into  vigorous  action. 

It  becomes  apparent,  then,  that  the  methods  of  manual 
training  must  be  carefully  considered  with  a  view  to  the  ac- 
complishment of  all  these  ends  even  from  a  physical  point 
of  view ;  and  it  is  a  striking  peculiarity  of  Sloyd  that  the 
gymnastic  value  of  the  work  is  carefully  considered  in  the 
choice  and  use  of  tools  and  material  as  well  as  in  the  pro- 
gression and  alternation  of  exercises. 

My  own  experience  as  a  teacher  in  this  work  has  been 
chiefly  with  children  of  eleven  to  fifteen  years  of  age, 
and  I  believe  that  this  is  the  right  age  at  which  to  get  the 
greatest  benefit  from  manual  training  with  wood-working 
tools.  Children  of  this  age,  while  they  are  likely  to  have 
sufficient  strength  for  the  vigorous  muscular  work  required, 
are  also  more  susceptible  to  moral  influences  than  older  chil- 
dren. It  has  been  urged  that  Sloyd  should  be  employed 
with  even  younger  children  on  account  of  their  impressibility  ; 
and,  to  meet  this  demand,  1  have  planned  a  suggestive  course 
of  work,  consisting  of  simple  exercises  and  a  moderate  num- 
ber of  tools.  There  is  no  reason,  when  time  and  oppor- 
tunity permit,  why  Sloyd  methods  should  not  be  adapted 
to  the  need  of  both  younger  and  older  pupils. 

I  have  many  times  been  asked  what  the  word  Sloyd 
means,  and  why  it  is  used  in  preference  to  your  English 
words  *'  manual  training"  and  "  wood-work,  "  or  "  carpen- 
try." The  word  Slojd  comes  from  an  old  Swedish  adjec- 
tive "  Slog,"  meaning  skilful,  handy,  or  deft,  and  from  it 
comes  the  noun  Slojd,  or  English  Sloyd.  The  name  Sloy- 
der  (Swedish  Slojdare)  is  applied  to  a  person  possessing  a 
certain  dexterity  of  hand,  without  being  in  any  sense  an 
artisan. 

Sloyd     has     had    an    interesting    evolution    in    Sweden. 


15 

When  the  Sloyd  question  was  first  considered  in  that  coun- 
try, it  was  not  so  much  considered  for  its  educational  value 
as  it  was  an  experiment  in  national  economy.  As  Sweden 
was  not  a  rich  country,  but  one  which  depended  mostly  on 
agriculture,  it  was  of  great  importance  that  the  farmers 
and  their  help  should  be  able  to  manufacture  for  them.- 
selves  all  kinds  of  domestic  articles,  and  this  they  had 
done  for  many  years;  but  in  1872  it  was  found  that  there 
were  onlv  five  provinces  out  of  the  twenty-four  where  this 
old  home  industry  was  kept  alive.  The  chief  cause  for  this 
decadence  was  the  introduction  of  machinery  to  take  the 
place  of  handicraft.  Things  which  the  farmers  used  to  make 
in  their  homes,  during  the  long  dark  winters,  could  now  be 
bought  very  cheaply.  The  decadence  of  the  old  home  in- 
dustry showed  its  effect,  not  only  from  the  economic  stand- 
point, but  also  in  a  decline  in  the  moral  and  physical  health 
of  the  communities.  This  was  recognized  as  so  serious  a 
danger  that  the  provincial  societies  made  strong  effort  to 
re-establish  the  "  hem  Slojd  "  (or  home  Sloyd) ;  and  a  grant 
of  2,500  crowns  was  made  by  the  government  in  1872, 
which  was  afterward  raised  to  10,000  and  again  to  20,000 
for  this  purpose. 

In  1875  ^^  Royal  Academy  appointed  two  civil  engi- 
neers to  organize  temporary  courses  in  Sloyd,  for  the  benefit 
of  teachers  and  others  interested,  in  different  parts  of  Swe- 
den. The  government  also  raised  a  sum  of  1 5,000  crowns 
intended  solely  to  aid  those  public  schools  in  which  Sloyd 
was  taught.  Unfortunately,  the  first  efforts  were  not  very 
successful.  Several  kinds  of  handiwork  were  taught,  such 
as  fret-sawing,  basket-making,  cooper's  and  wheelwright's 
work,  etc.,  but  the  work  received  more  attention  than  the 
worker.  The  spirit  of  the  teaching  was  too  technical.  In 
the  year  1872,  however,  a  more  rational  course  of  Sloyd  was 
worked  out  by  one  for  whom  I  entertain  the  highest  regard. 

It  is  to  Herr  Otto  Salomon,  Naas,  Sweden,  that  the  ed- 
ucational  Sloyd  movement  in  Sweden  and  other  countries 


Id 

owes  its  greatest  advancement  and  greatest  value.  Perhaps 
I  can  do  no  better  than  to  give  you  Herr  Salomon's  pre- 
sentation of  the  aims  and  methods  of  Sloyd  :  — 

"  Instilling  a  taste  for  and  love  of  work  in  general. 

"  Inspiring  a  respect  for  rough,  honest,  bodily  labor. 

"  Training  in  habits  of  order,  exactness,  cleanliness,  and 
neatness. 

"  Accustoming  to  attention,  industry,  and  perseverance. 

"  Promoting  the  development  of  the  physical  powers. 

"  Affording  a  training  of  the  eye  in  the  sense  of  form. 

"  Manual  training  must  exercise  the  thinking  power,  and 
not  be  purely  mechanical, 

"  There  must  be  no  division  of  labor,  and  so  it  must 
correspond  with  the  capabilities  of  the  child. 

"  As  one  of  the  aims  is  to  cultivate  general  dexterity  of 
hand,  the  material  must  be  employed  which  permits  of  the 
use  of  numerous  manipulations  and  of  various  tools." 

In  the  choice  of  methods  and  arrangement  of  models 
the  following  points  should  be  considered  :  — 

I.  The  series  must  progress  without  break  from  the  easy 
to  the  difficult,  from  the  simple  to  the  complex. 

1.  There  must  be  a  refreshing  variety  both  in  the  ex- 
ercises, tools  and  models. 

3.  At  the  beginning  of  the  series  the  models  should  be 
capable  of  being  quickly  executed,  and  by  degrees  models 
that  require  a  larger  time  should  be  given. 

4.  In  making  the  first  models,  only  a  small  number  of 
tools  is  to  be  used.  As  the  work  progresses,  the  number 
of  tools  and  manipulations  should  be  gradually  increased. 

5.  The  models  must  follow  in  such  progressive  order 
that  by  means  of  the  preceding  ones  the  pupils  may  attain 
the  necessary  aptitude  to  make  the  succeeding  ones  without 
direct  help. 

6.  The  models  must  be  so  graduated  that  at  every  stage 
the  pupil  is  able  to  make  an  exact  copy,  not  merely  an  ap- 
proximate one. 


17 

y.  At  first  the  knife  as  the  fundamental  tool  should  be 
most  used. 

You  will  perhaps  be  interested  to  hear  a  few  words  in 
regard  to  the  first  efforts  to  make  Sloyd  known  in  Boston. 

Having  studied  Sloyd  in  Sweden  at  the  well-known 
school  at  Naas,  in  the  double  capacity  of  pupil  and  teacher, 
I  felt  that  a  knowledge  of  the  system  should  be  more 
widely  diffused  than  it  then  was. 

During  my  studies  I  was  more  and  more  impressed  by 
the  importance  of  the  work;  and  being  convinced  that  a 
broader  opportunity  would  not  only  enlarge  its  sphere  of 
usefulness,  but  also  help  to  develop  unrealized  possibilities 
of  Sloyd,  I  concluded  to  visit  America,  hoping  to  interest 
school  boards  and  other  promoters  of  education,  and  that 
their  sympathy  and  interest  would  result  in  the  establish- 
ment here  of  schools  for  Sloyd.  With  this  aim  in  view,  I 
gave  up  temporarily  my  position  as  teacher  in  one  of  the 
Swedish  schools,  and  came  to  the  United  States,  arriving  in 
Boston  on  the  first  day  of  July,  1888. 

Through  the  mediation  of  one  of  my  countrymen  who 
had  preceded  me,  I  was  made  known  to  one  who  is  well 
known  for  her  public-spirited,  philanthropic  interest  in 
public  education  ;  and  after  only  one  week's  stay  in  Boston 
I  was  engaged  to  teach  Sloyd  to  children  in  two  private 
summer  schools.  During  that  time  I  had  the  opportunity 
to  plan,  make,  and  test  a  course  of  models,  twenty-five  In 
number,  and  suitable,  as  I  thought,  for  American  children 
above  eleven  years  of  age.  In  the  teaching  of  this  first 
course  I  also  made  working  drawings  on  the  blackboard 
for  the  children  to  read,  and  also  cards  of  constructive  draw^- 
ings  which  should  be  used  to  precede  and  accompany  the 
work.  As  you  will  see  by  illustrations,  this  course  con- 
sists of  objects  which  would  be  considered  useful  by  an 
American  boy.  With  this  end  in  view,  I  also  tried  to 
keep  the  gradual  progression  of  exercises  and  tools  which 
are  characteristic  of  the  Swedish  work.     As  I  had  come  to 


America  for  the  purpose  of  interesting  teachers  and  other 
promoters  of  education  in  Sloyd  rather  than  to  teach 
children,  I  at  first  sent  out  invitations  to  pubHc  school- 
teachers of  Boston  to  visit  an  exhibition  of  Sloyd  work, 
and  at  that  time  I  secured  only  the  names  of  those  teach- 
ers who  were  interested  in  the  study  of  the  subject.  Free 
lessons  were  offered  to  teachers  in  classes  established  by 
Mrs.  Quincy  A.  Shaw,  which  were  to  be  given  after  regular 
school  hours,  in  the  evening,  and  on  Saturdays.  Thus  the 
work  began  in  a  tentative  way. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  second  year,  fifty  public  school- 
teachers were  taking  the  normal  course  ;  and  in  the  fall  of 
the  same  year  the  number  was  increased  to  one  hundred 
and  twenty.  Meanwhile  sixty  pupils  from  one  of  the 
Boston  grammar  schools  were  placed  under  my  instruction  ; 
and  now  (1891),  in  the  third  year  of  my  work  in  Boston, 
in  the  school  under  my  care,  one  hundred  and  sixty  teach- 
ers were  studying  the  modified  Swedish  methods,  besides 
two  hundred  public  school  pupils  weekly. 

This  system  of  Sloyd  is  now*  being  tested  (1891)  in 
several  Boston  schools  and  institutions,  including  the 
Perkins  Institution  for  the  Blind  and  the  Horace  Mann 
School  for  the  Deaf  In  these,  as  well  as  in  a  large  private 
school,  both  boys  and  girls  are  engaged  in  the  work. 

*  At  the  present  time,  1902,  twenty-seven  graduates  of  the  Sloyd  Training  School  arc 
teaching  Sloyd  to  over  six  thousand  boys  in  the  Boston  public  schools,  where  it  now  forms  a 
part  of  the  regular  work. 


II. 

SLOYD     FOR     ELEiMENTARY     SCHOOLS,    AS     CON- 
TRASTED WITH  THE  RUSSIAN  SYSTEM 
OF  MANUAL  TRAINING. 

Paper  read  at  the  International  Congress  of  Education  of  the  World's 
Columbian  Exposition,   Chicago,  July   26,  1893. 

I  have  been  Invited  to  say  a  few  words  about  Sloyd,  and 
especially  to  consider  in  what  ways  its  methods  are  differ- 
ent from  those  of  the  Russian  system  of  manual  training. 

Although  I  believe  in  educational  manual  training  for  all 
ages,  I  have  concentrated  my  thought  chiefly  on  work  for 
boys  and  girls  in  elementary  schools  (children  of  eleven  to 
fifteen  years).  The  reason  for  this  is  that  the  kindergarten 
and  primary  schools  have  been  well  supplied  with  occupa- 
tions, and  the  technical  high  schools  have  long  been  es- 
tablished. 

The  question  is  often  asked :  "  Why  use  the  word 
*  Sloyd  *  ?  Would  not  a  name  more  familiar  to  American 
ears,  such  as  manual  training  or  carpentry,  answer  the  pur- 
pose just  as  well?"  It  might  be  replied  that  this  system 
had  its  origin  in  Sweden,  where  it  had  been  practised  for 
over  twenty  years,  and  that  the  word  "  Sloyd  "  at  once  sug- 
gests its  history,  and  gives  credit  where  credit  is  due ;  also, 
that  the  fact  of  its  being  an  unusual  word  attracts  attention, 
and  stimulates  inquiry  and  study.  But  the  main  reason 
for  retaining  the  name  "  Sloyd  "  lies  in  the  fact  that  the 
word  has  no  equivalent  in  the  English  language.  The  ex- 
pression "  manual  training  "  is  too  indefinite,  as  it  may  be 
manual  onl)\  and  given  only  for  industrial  purposes,  while 
the  term  "  carpentry  "  entirely  fails  to  explain  the  full  and 
true  purpose  of  Sloyd. 


20 


The  word  "  Sloyd  "  means  manual  training  for  the  sake 
of  general  development,  physical,  mental,  and  moral,  and 
it  also  means  that  kind  of  hand-work  which  will  best  stimu- 
late the  right  kind  of  head-work ;  and,  as  this  word  alone 
sets  forth  the  true  aim  of  this  system,  it  seems  desirable 
that  it  be  retained. 

The  general  aim  of  Sloyd,  then,  is  the  moral,  mental, 
and  physical  development  of  the  pupil,  the  mental  devel- 
opment being  secured  by  help  of  the  physical.  In  other 
words,  a  definite  effort  is  made  to  provide  such  manual 
work  as  will  arouse  a  mental  enthusiasm,  the  value  of 
which  will  be  felt  in  all  the  intellectual  work  of  the  school. 
I  am  aware  of  the  fact  that  this  is  the  aim  of  all  truly 
educational  manual  training.  The  difference  is  found  here 
in  means  and  methods. 

The  question  now  is.  What  are  the  best  methods  ?  Ob- 
viously, that  method  is  best  which  secures  the  greatest  in- 
terest of  the  pupil,  independently  of  the  teacher,  and 
which  provides  a  progressive  series  of  exercises  of  the 
greatest  educational  value  physically  and  mentally.  The 
methods  of  the  Swedish  Sloyd  system  are  based  upon  the 
following  ideas  :  — 

1.  The  exercises  should  follow  in  a  progressive  order, 
from  the  easy  to  the  difficult,  from  the  simple  to  the  com- 
plex, without  any  injurious  break,  and  with  such  carefully 
graded  demands  on  the  powers  of  both  mind  and  hand  that 
the  development  of  the  two  shall  be  equal  and  simulta- 
neous. This  duality  of  progression  is  an  essential  feature  of 
Sloyd.  It  cannot  be  shown  in  any  course  of  manual  work  : 
nothing  but  careful  observation  of  the  child's  gain  of  power 
in  many  directions  will  show  the  result  aimed  at. 

2.  The  exercises  should  admit  of  the  greatest  possible 
variety :  they  must  avoid  any  tendency  either  to  too  great 
mental  tension,  confusion,  or  physical  strain.  There  is  a 
danger  here,  not  always  recognized ;  for  it  takes  a  careful 
observer  and  a  true  teacher  to  discover  that  a  model  may  be 


21 


at  the  same  time  too  easy  for  the  hand  and  too  difficult  for 
the  mind ;  while  the  hand  may  be  well  trained  by  a  model 
which  gives  the  mind  little  or  nothing  to  do. 

3.  The  exercises  should  result  in  the  making  of  a  useful 
article  from  the  very  outset ;  that  is  to  say,  an  article  the 
use  of  which  is  appreciated  by  the  child.  This  arouses 
and  sustains  the  child's  interest  in  his  work,  helps  him  to 
understand  the  reason  for  every  step  ;  for  he  can  see  to 
what  these  steps  lead.  It  makes  him  careful  in  his  work, 
for  he  soon  learns  that  poor  work  will  spoil  a  model  which 
he  values.  The  child's  self-respect  and  pride  are  also 
aroused  :  he  is  not  only  learning  to  make,  but  is  actually 
making.  He  has  joined  the  army  of  producers,  and  he 
has  before  him  tangible  proofs  of  his  progress.  If  the 
child  is  encouraged  to  make  these  things  for  others,  it 
helps,  also,  to  develop  unselfishness.  Much  of  the  moral 
value  of  Sloyd  centres  in  this  "  useful  "  model.  Some 
persons,  ignorant  of  its  true  purpose,  have  thought  it  owed 
its  place  in  this  system  to  its  industrial  value  only.  But 
the  truth  is  that  the  useful  model  is  valued  above  all  for 
the  mental  and  moral  development  secured  by  use  of  the 
creative  faculty. 

4.  Slo3^d  seeks  also  to  cultivate  the  aesthetic  sense  by 
combining  in  the  models  good  form  and  proportion  with 
utility.  It  has  been  said  by  one  interested  in  manual  train- 
ing that  "  the  pupil  must  be  led  to  see  and  feel  the  simple 
beauty  of  proportion,  of  harmony  of  parts,  as  well  as  grace 
of  outUne, —  elements  of  beauty  which  are  a  direct  outgrowth 
of  the  useful  as  well  as  the  beauty  of  mere  ornament  which 
is  sometimes  more  or  less  externally  added.  For  this  reason 
Sloyd  attaches  much  importance  to  the  free-hand  modelling 
in  wood  of  solid  forms."  Throughout  this  system,  as  in 
the  kindergarten,  the  sense  of  beauty  is  regarded  as  an 
important  factor  in  education  ;  and  an  eye  for  symmetry  and 
grace,  although  but  rarely  developed,  has  also  proved  to 
have  great  practical  value  even  for  the  artisan. 


5'  Every  model  should  be  so  constructed  that  it  can  be 
drawn  by  the  pupils  themselves,  not  copied  or  traced. 
Drawing  is  an  essential  feature  of  Sloyd  as  applied  in  Bos- 
ton, and  should  always  be  preliminary  to  the  making  of  the 
model. 

6.  For  children  who  are  old  enough  for  the  regular  Sloyd, 
it  is  believed  that  the  knife  should  be  the  first  and  funda- 
mental tool.  There  are  several  reasons  for  this,  which  will 
be  mentioned  later. 

These  are  some  of  the  ideas  which  have  served  to  guide 
the  arrangement  of  the  models  which  I  have  the  honor  of 
showing  in  Chicago.  It  should  be  mentioned  that  Sloyd 
models  are  always  to  be  adapted  to  the  needs  of  different 
localities. 

A  radical  difference  between  the  Russian  and  the  Swed- 
ish system  is  that  the  Russian  methods  are  based  upon  the 
idea  of  teaching  the  use  of  certain  tools  by  making  incom- 
plete articles  or  exercises,  with  the  belief  that  out  of  such 
teaching  will  come  good  educational  results,  even  without 
much  attention  to  the  special  needs  and  capacity  of  the 
growing  child,  either  by  the  choice  or  the  sequence  of  tools 
or  exercises. 

The  Swedish  system  is  based  upon  the  Frobelian  idea 
of  the  harmonious  development  of  all  the  powers  of  the 
child,  tools  and  exercises  being  chosen  with  reference  to  this 
end,  and  all  merely  mechanical  methods  being  carefully 
avoided.  The  Sloyd  teacher  does  not  say,  "  Now  I  will 
teach  this  boy  to  saw,  and  he  shall  continue  to  saw  until  he 
can  saw  well,"  regardless  of  monotony  or  the  too  prolonged 
use  of  the  same  muscles.  The  problem  of  the  Sloyd 
teacher  is  to  find  the  tool,  whether  knife  or  saw  or  plane, 
and  also  the  series  of  exercises,  best  adapted  to  the  present 
need  of  the  average  pupil,  and  also  to  vary  or  alternate  the 
tools  and  to  graduate  the  exercises  with  constant  reference 
to  the  growing  capacity,  the  formative  age,  and  to  the 
various  activities  of  body  and  mind. 


23 

It  should  be  said  here  that,  while  the  methods  of  Sloyd 
are  unlike  those  aiming  at  immediate  technical  skill, — 
there  is  abundant  proof  that  the  results  of  a  thorough 
Sloyd  training  will  be  found  to  include  all  that  is  gained 
even  mechanically  by  any  other  method  I  have  seen  pre- 
sented, plus  a  far  more  generous  general  development,  includ- 
ing greater  delicacy  of  observation  and  of  manipulation.  The 
Sloyd  course  now  being  used  in  Boston  calls  for  the  use  of 
forty-five  different  tools  and  seventy-two  exercises  applied 
in  the  making  of  thirty-one  models.  Among  these  exer- 
cises are  fifteen  different  joints. 

Another  difference  is  seen  in  the  importance  which  Sloyd 
attaches  to  the  use  of  the  knife  as  the  first  tool  given  to  the 
child,  regarding  it  as  the  simplest  and  least  mechanical  of 
tools,  which  gives  a  development  of  the  muscles  of  hand  and 
wrist  peculiar  to  itself,  a  development  which  modern  phy- 
siologists teach  us  is  also  conducive  to  the  physical  develop- 
ment of  the  brainy  the  familiarity  of  the  tool  as  well  as  its 
danger  making  it  possible  to  secure  concentration  of  atten- 
tion upon  the  work  at  the  outset. 

Again,  Sloyd  methods  are  unlike  Russian  methods  in 
giving  great  prominence  to  form  study  and  in  the  method  by 
which  all  form  work  is  made, —  methods  which  are  quite 
unlike  those  of  the  carpenter,  because  the  first  care  of  the 
Sloyd  teacher  is  that  the  muscular  sense  of  form  be  devel- 
oped in  the  child  rather  than  that  the  curves  be  accom- 
plished in  the  quickest  and  easiest  way. 

Again,  the  exercises  of  Sloyd  furnish  greater  variety  than 
those  of  the  Russian  system  ;  and  the  fact  that  small  models 
can  be  finished  in  a  reasonably  short  space  of  time  helps  to 
increase  and  maintain  a  healthy  interest  and  to  train  that 
sense  of  completeness  and  achievement,  which  is  unfortu- 
nately wanting  in  many  educational  processes. 

Again,  Sloyd  methods  provide  more  carefully  than  is 
true  of  some  others  for  the  physical  development  by  a 
judicious  choice  and  sequence  of  tools,  positions,  and 
exercises. 


24 

Finally,  and  most  prominent  of  all  differences  between 
the  systems,  is  the  insistence  of  Sloyd  upon  the  use  of  the 
completed  tnodel  in  place  of  the  prevalent  Russian  exercise 
with  tools.  The  reasons  for  this  faith  in  the  educational 
value  of  the  completed,  useful  model  are  similar  to  those 
which  have  so  influenced  modern  pedagogical  methods  in 
other  departments  of  education  that  the  completed  phrase 
has  now  driven  the  word-spelling  out  of  school  and  the 
writing  lesson  is  no  longer  confined  to  the  copy-book. 

Sloyd  demands  a  trained  teacher.  It  is  easily  seen  that 
the  successful  carrying  out  of  these  ideas  depends  upon  the 
teacher's  comprehension  of  the  object  of  the  teaching  and 
of  the  capacity  and  needs  of  the  child,  as  well  as  upon  his 
ability  to  impart  the  knowledge  he  has  acquired.  A  good 
teacher  is  not  necessarily  possessed  of  the  manual  skill  of 
an  expert,  but  he  must  understand  childish  intelligence,  and 
know  how  to  lead  the  child  in  his  work.  I  am  happy  to 
state  that  a  large  number  of  Boston  teachers  are  now  (1893) 
studying  the  subject  of  manual  training,  and  that  over 
ninety-five  are  taking  a   normal  course  in   Sloyd. 

It  is  not  always  enough  that  a  child  should  be  told  how 
to  use  a  tool.  The  teacher  must  oversee  the  work  of  each 
child,  to  make  sure  that  he  has  a  clear  idea  of  what  he  has 
to  do.  Sloyd  puts  much  emphasis  on  the  value  of  indi- 
vidual instruction  ;  but  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  by 
individual  instruction  is  meant  a  constant  watchfulness  of 
each  pupil,  much  less  that  the  teacher  shall  take  the  work 
into  his  own  hands  and  give  the  pupil  too  much  help.  A 
good  teacher  will  not  teach  too  much,  even  if  he  has  but 
one  pupil.  Class  instruction  can  be  given  as  regards  much 
of  the  manual  work, —  drawing,  positions  at  the  bench,  the 
use,  adjustment,  and  care  of  tools,  etc. ;  but  the  best  results 
of  Sloyd  will  not  be  attained  unless  a  teacher  is  able  also  to 
oversee  individual  work  enough  to  satisfy  himself  that  his 
pupil  has  a  clear  idea  of  what  he  is  to  do,  that  he  under- 
stands   the    reasons    for    it,   and   is    not    working    without 


25 

thought,  mechanically  following  half-understood  directions, 
and  so  losing  the  intellectual  value  of  the  exercises.  To 
do  this,  it  will  be  seen  that  classes  must  not  be  too  large. 
Allowance  must  be  made  for  difference  in  physical  and 
mental  capacity.  It  is  no  matter  if  two-thirds  of  the  class 
are  in  advance  of  the  other  third,  provided  that  each  pupil 
receive  as  much  as  he  can  digest.  This  is  not  a  lesson  in 
memorizing,  a  test  of  which  is  easily  applied :  here  is  an 
attempt  to  appeal  to  the  perception,  the  judgment,  the  in- 
genuity, the  reason,  by  means  of  the  hand  and  eye,  the 
visible  results  of  which  may  be  good,  while  the  unseen 
object  of  it  all  is  unattained.  Special  individual  care,  there- 
fore, is  necessary  to  make  sure  that  the  intellectual  develop- 
ment of  the  child  is  secured ;  and  teachers  must  be  con- 
stantly warned  against  the  danger  of  satisfaction  with  mere 
manual  skill. 

True  Sloyd  is  taught  only  when,  by  the  exercise  of  many 
faculties,  the  mind  is  led  step  by  step  to  careful  and  accu- 
rate thinking. 

Sloyd,  like  the  kindergarten,  has  suffered  much  from  in- 
adequate presentation  ;  and  the  public  have  been  made  more 
or  less  familiar  with  its  outward  form  while  wholly  ignorant 
of  the  aims  and  psychological  basis  of  its  methods.  It  is  for 
this  reason  that,  while  a  certain  number  of  persons  are  al- 
ways to  be  found  who  are  attached  to  the  Sloyd  models 
merely  because  they  are  useful,  others  equally  unthinking 
are  suspicious  of  the  same  models  because  they  are  not 
those  of  the  carpenter  shop.  Neither  of  these  classes  of 
persons  is  in  a  position  to  do  justice  to  the  subject,  because 
neither  of  them  understands  the  aim  of  the  system  or  the 
significance  of  the  exercises  embodied  in  the  models,  each 
one  of  which  holds  its  place  in  a  progressive  course  of  work 
for  a  definite  reason  and  as  an  essential  step  in  the  ladder. 
It  will  be  seen  that,  although  Sloyd  models  may  be  adapted 
to  the  differing  needs  of  times  and  places,  they  must  not 
be  taken  bodily  out  of  the  course,  transported,  and  even 


26 

arbitrarily  combined  with  other  systems  and  methods,  where- 
by they  lose  their  educational  value.  It  is  by  such  rough 
handling  of  its  outward  symbols  that  Sloyd  has  suffered  as 
its  mother,  the  kindergarten,  did  before  it.  Let  us  hope 
that  a  better  understanding  of  its  methods  and  of  the  princi- 
ples upon  which  they  rest  may  commend  it  to  students  of 
the  philosophy  of  education. 


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III. 

SLOYD    AS   A   MEANS    OF    GENERAL    EDUCATION. 

Paper  read  at  a  meeting  of  the  California  State  Teachers'  Asociation  in 
Stockton,  Dec.  26,  1893. 

It  Is  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  visit  this  part  of  the  coun- 
try, and  have  the  opportunity  of  explaining  to  you  some- 
thing of  that  form  of  educational  manual  training  known  as 
Sloyd. 

The  word  "  Sloyd,"  pronounced  in  Swedish  "  Slojd,"  is 
derived  from  an  old  adjective  "  Slog,"  meaning  skilful.  It 
was  used  in  the  writings  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  al- 
ways embodied  the  idea  of  planning  and  executing,  and  was 
applied  to  works  of  art,  architecture,  embroidery,  etc. 

The  word  ''  Slojd  "  has  a  long  history,  but  this  throws 
very  Httle  light  on  the  subject  of  educational  manual  train- 
ing. The  word  expresses  the  idea  of  planning  and  executing; 
and,  as  it  has  no  equivalent  in  any  language,  it  seems  desir- 
able to  adopt  it,  as  the  word  "  Kindergarten "  has  been 
adopted.  In  order  to  obtain  an  understanding  of  the  real 
meaning  of  the  Sloyd  system,  one  must  first  appreciate  the 
aim  of  the  work  and  the  principles  governing  the  system. 
Casual  observers  (and  we  are  sorry  that  teachers  have  been 
found  among  them)  have  judged  the  Sloyd  by  its  outward 
expression, —  i.e.,  the  articles  made, —  and  have  never  gotten 
behind  them  to  the  vital  fact  that  its  value  can  only  be  esti- 
mated when  one  has  a  true  knowledge  of  the  needs  of  child- 
hood, and  how  this  work  is  arranged  to  meet  these.  I  need 
not  detain  you  with  a  discussion  of  general  principles,  but 
will  proceed  at  once  to  consider  the  most  important  princi- 
ples governing  the  Sloyd.  I  will  endeavor  to  show  you 
how  carefully  the  steps  are  taken  according  to  educational 


28 

principles.  The  physical  and  mental  capacity  of  the  child  is 
first  considered,  and  suitable  provision  is  made  for  his  put- 
ting forth  the  necessary  effort  to  reach  an  end  which  he  sees 
and  desires.  This  careful  provision  is  found  in  the  progres- 
sive exercises.  An  exercise  in  Sloyd  is  a  specific  use  of  a 
tool,  involving  a  certain  mental  effort.  The  principle  of 
correct  progression  has  frequently  been  overlooked  in  the 
arrangement  of  manual  training  courses.  A  strict  examina- 
tion of  the  prevailing  systems  would  prove  many  of  the  ex- 
ercises to  be  of  very  little  value  in  developing  the  child. 

By  "variety,"  must  not  be  understood  an  incessant 
changing  from  one  exercise  to  another  before  the  exercise 
has  had  time  to  produce  a  definite  effect  upon  the  child's 
mind.  This  is  a  very  delicate  point,  a  vital  one, —  a  point 
which  I  have  had  constantly  in  mind  in  working  out  my 
series  of  models,  and  which  I  will  endeavor  to  illustrate  to 
you.  Each  new  exercise  must  be  practised  only  so  long 
and  so  steadily  as  to  impress  upon  the  child  a  correct  un- 
derstanding of  it.  The  exercise  must  be  changed  for 
another  before  it  becomes  mechanical,  calling  for  less  effort. 
So  soon  as  this  happens,  the  exercise  is  no  longer  an  ade- 
quate means  of  development 

The  opportunity  for  variety  which  Sloyd  affords  must  be 
studied  closely,  such  as  :  — 

1.  Variety  of  exercise. 

2.  Variety  in  arrangement  of  exercises. 

3.  Variety  of  objects  made. 

4.  Variety  of  wood  used. 

5.  Variety  of  physical  effort. 

6.  Variety  of  intellectual  problems. 

Sloyd  offers  occasion  for  free-hand  work  or  modelling  of 
solid  forms.  Experience  has  taught  me  that  work  which 
can  be  tested  by  instruments  only,  sometimes  designated  as 
qualitative,  is  not  suf^cient  of  itself  to  make  the  child  inde- 
pendent and  ready  to  rely  on  his  ov/n  judgment.  By  con- 
fining the  child  to  that  kind  of  work  which  he  continually 


29 

tests  by  instruments,  he  grows  dependent  upon  the  testing 
tools,  and  loses  the  training  of  eye  and  touch.  This  is  the 
reason  for  placing  in  a  course,  objects  having  curved  out- 
lines which  cannot  be  tested  by  instruments  ;  for  by  the  eye 
and  sense  of  touch  alone  must  the  pupil  judge  their  correct- 
ness. Since  the  principle  that  the  child  shall  have  free-hand 
work  is  considered  so  important  in  Sloyd,  a  proper  tool  for 
the  work  must  be  provided ;  and,  of  all  tools,  a  knife,  prop- 
erly constructed,  is  found  to  best  meet  this  need,  because  it 
is  the  most  familiar,  the  simplest  and  least  mechanical. 
This  tool  makes  the  pupil  from  the  beginning  of  his  work 
feel  the  need  of  concentrating  his  thought  upon  the  work  in 
hand.  It  teaches  the  child  to  think  before  acting.  The 
knife,  however,  is  not  the  only  tool  we  use  in  modelling 
in  wood.  The  plane,  spoke  shave,  gouge,  and  file  are  also 
used  in  making  the  various  exercises  involved  in  form  work. 
A  distinction  must  be  made  between  whittling  and  so- 
called  knife  work.  In  whittling,  the  child  uses  his  muscles 
freely  in  cutting  away  shavings,  whereby  his  progress  is  made 
visible  and  his  judgment  is  kept  alive  in  every  movement. 
President  Hall  has  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  large 
groups  of  muscles  controlling  arms  and  trunk  should  be 
trained  before  the  fine  muscles  of  wrist,  hand,  and  fingers. 
This  makes  a  sharp  distinction  between  knife  work  as  often 
practised  and  whittling.  "  Knife  work,"  as  practised  in 
some  systems  of  manual  training,  is  mostly  drawing  certain 
outline  forms  on  wood  with  the  point  of  a  knife,  trimming 
the  edges  of  thin  wood  to  pattern.  Thus  the  knife  is  re- 
duced to  a  mere  mechanical  tool,  employed  in  producing 
the  model,  it  is  true,  but  affording  the  child  very  little  op- 
portunity for  development.  The  same  is  true  of  the  fret- 
saw. The  muscular  movement  is  cramped,  and  the  posi- 
tion is  by  no  means  conducive  to  health  ;  and  yet  such  work 
has  unfortunately  come  to  be  called  *'  Educational   Manual 

rip  •        •  >> 

i  rammg. 

Furthermore,  Sloyd  employs  the  making  and  using  of 


working  drawings  as  a  means  of  concise  thought  expression  ; 
and,  therefore,  the  pupils  should  make  a  working  drawing  of 
the  model  before  he  begins  to  reproduce  it.  In  most  cases 
the  drawing  should  be  made  by  the  pupil  himself.  How- 
ever, a  drawing  not  made  by  the  pupil  and  with  which  he 
is  not  familiar  should  sometimes  be  used  instead  of  his  own, 
in  order  to  teach  him  how  to  read  the  thoughts  of  others. 
A  working  drawing  represents  the  object  as  it  is,  and  not  as 
it  looks. 

Sloyd  cultivates  the  aesthetic  sense.  The  pupil  is  led  to 
see  and  feel  the  simple  beauty  of  proportion,  of  harmony 
of  parts  as  well  as  grace  of  outline, —  those  elements  of 
beauty  which  should  be  found  in  the  useful  as  well  as  in 
the  merely  ornamental.  This  is  another  reason  why  Sloyd 
attaches  so  much  importance  to  the  free-hand  modelling  in 
wood  of  solid  forms. 

Every  model  should  be  of  good  form  and  proportion. 

Sloyd  work  is  arranged  so  as  to  provide  for  a  wholesome 
proportion  between  problems  of  thought  and  of  tool  work. 

Exercises  requiring  different  thought  may  be  produced  by 
the  same  tool.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  a  rational  system 
of  manual  training  cannot  be  based  upon  the  tools  alone, 
but  on  the  exercises  or  the  different  problems  to  be  worked 
out  by  the  tool.  For  example,  in  planing,  the  attention  is 
exercised  in  different  ways  when  planing  with  the  grain  and 
across  the  grain,  though  the  action  of  the  plane  is  very 
similar. 

Sloyd  offers  sufficient  opportunity  for  the  cultivation  of 
habits  of  accuracy  by  the  use  of  testing  instruments,  such 
as  rule  and  try  square,  and  of  thorough  honesty  by  the  pu- 
pil's correction  of  his  own  mistakes. 

There  is  hardly  another  subject  in  the  whole  school 
course  which  offers  such  opportunity  for  the  cultivation  of 
habits  of  rectitude  and  honesty,  or  for  the  prevention  of 
self-indulgence  and  self-deception,  as  is  afforded  by  the 
use  of  these   never-changing,  never  doubted  testing  tools, 


TABLE    OF    SECOND    SERIES. 


„. 

m™, 

~ 

"S^' 

"■=." 

-—-"-» 

■ 

Wedge. 
Flower  pin. 

'Straight,     'End.     ar.d      >Obliqat 
Wbitthng- 

Knife,  Kule.  Lead  Pencil 

...„., 

3»  •%! 

--•■— ^— —  -- 

' 

'Long     and     'Point      Whittling; 
'Sand-papering. 

Sand-pap.,. 

rrne 

i.-,i. 

3 

Flowerilick, 

'Rip-sawing;  'Squate  and  'Edge 
i'laning,  '"Marking  with  Gauge  r 
"Drawing  by  Try-square. 

Splitting-saw,    B  a  c  k  -  s  a  w. 
Jack-plane.       Try-square, 
Marking-gauge 

P.ne, 

15. i. 

To  find  the  CenlT«  of  a  Square.  Lines  dnwa 
to  meet  around  a  Square  Stick. 

^ 

,...„,.„ 

"Curve-whittling;  "Perpendicular 
Boring;  "Fitting  a  Peg, 

Drill  bit.  wiih  Point 

P.. 

S>  J 

> 

— ^ 

"Rdund-Mwing ;      "Horizontal 
Boring;  "Filing;  "Sandpaper- 

Block-plane.  Auger-bit. 

Pin.. 

18a,.). 

To  bisect  a  Line  and  describe  a  Semicircle, 
with  given  Radius.     To  find  the  Centre  of 

two  Square  Tangent*  being  given. 

' 

Flo»er.pol  stand 

"Nailing  and  "Using    of    Bench- 

Hammer.  Bench-hook,  Nail 
Set,  Smoothing  Plane. 

P... 

».e. 

Oblong. 

7 

Flo.n-poi-slool. 

"Halved-iogethcr  Joint. 

Ch..,. 

P... 

Six.xf 

» 

Bcnchbook. 

^Gluing;    "Screwing;     •*Ferpen- 
dicnlat       ChiselUng;      "Boring 

Screw-driver,  Rose  Counter- 

Pine      and 
Cherry, 

,4  a  Six; 

Hypothenusc  of  a  Triangle,  with  ^ides  given. 

' 

„.,c.,.„... 

'•rurve.sawing;  '♦Modelling  with 
Spokeshave.  '"Scraping, 

Spokeshave,  Half-round  FUe, 
Cabinet-scraper. 

Sycamore. 

,6Ja=(xi. 

Free -hind,  Compound  Curves,  0%-al.  Elliptc. 

,0 

„.™„.„d,. 

^'Symmetrical  Form  Work. 

Half-round  Rasp. 

Cherry. 

"■"A'H- 

Free-hand.  Symmetric*l.  Compound  Curvw, 

■■ 

Butler  or  Dongh 
Spade. 

»*  Wedge-planing ;        "Half-round 
niing, 

Cheny. 

,3,4ta|. 

Arcs  from  Given  Centres.     Free-hand  Sym- 

..» 

Key-board. 

"SpacingwithCompaKes;  "Vein- 

Pine. 

,S.;a) 

Isosceles  Triangle.  Rhombus.  To  con- 
struct an  Equflaleral  Triangle,  w.th  Base 
given.  To  find  .he  Centre  of  an  Equ.. 
lateial  Tnangle. 

■= 

Paper-knife, 

"Pnnching  and  "Notching;  "Fil- 
ingEdge;  '^LongOblique  Plan- 

—.-""■—■ 

Maple, 

.3a.i«i. 

Arcs  with  Pointt  pven. 

■3 

.... 

"Bevelling  Edge  wth  Jack-plane 

C„..e.., 

Maple, 

i6ai|a,V 

•' 

Towel-roller, 

"Filling  Axle;  "Kound-planing. 

'■"" 

i»iX4!ai 

Kectangular  Prism.  Octagonal  Prism.  Con- 
centric Cir  J  es.  Arcs  of  Concentric  Circle.. 
Parallel  Oblique  Lines,  Obmse-angled 
Triangles, 

■S 

K,™. 

"Open    Mortise-and-tenon    Joint; 
"Making  and  Fttting  Dowels. 

Mo„Ue..an.. 

P.. 

,;xioaJ 

,6 

NaU-box, 

"Filling  and  Nailing  Square  Joints, 

Whiitwood. 

S.sJxjj, 

Spacing  for  N'iils, 

•., 

Pen.!-;. 

"Groovingwilh  Gouge;  -Carving. 

Gonge.      Round      Cabinti- 

"- 

iiXxiix!. 

Diagonals.     Arcs,  -rnlb  Points  given. 

.. 

Hal.iacfc. 

•^Straight    Edge    Bevelling    with 
Plane;  '"Bevelling  with   Knife; 
"Chamfering  with  Cbiael, 

Pine. 

.8.ia». 

19a 

Piclore  frame. 

"Grooving  with  Chisel. 

P,ne. 

,o,81x, 

■<> 

Ko,„M,^,. 

"Mitring. 

Pine. 

S.iJx.i 

.^ 

Cake  spoon. 

"Compass-sawing. 

Co„pa..„.. 

C.e,o-. 

IJ.ixJ. 

Free-hand  Cuned  Lines. 

» 

I.d„. 

"Cutting  with  Drawing-knife, 

Drawing-knife. 

Cbe„,. 

i^X3J.,|. 

Ftee-band  Curbed  Line*. 

... 

Lamp -brack  el. 

"Plain  DoKetailiog;  >'Car»-ing 

Mallei,  Marking-a«F], 

P„e. 

9ixsix4 

Arcs,  with  Points  given.  Pattern  for  Dove- 
tailing.    Geometric  Design  for  Ornament. 

" 

Kni/eboa. 

"Halfroond  Bevelling  with  Plane. 

P„e, 

ujAjxaf 

Patiem  fi..r  Dovetailing.  Arcs,  with  Points 
given. 

•23 

Book  ra<:k. 

"Fitting  Hinges;  "SheUacking. 

Carver's  Parting-toul 

Mahogany. 

.6x5*.,;. 

^^olmt""^'"      Geometric  D„:gn 

- 

T,a, 

"'^I^.^""'"  '"■'""' 

.... 

i6xio,-,xiJ. 

To  find  the  Centre  of  an    Oblong.     Arcs, 
from   Given  Points,      Geometric  Design 

- 

C...... 

ing  Iron  Plates  ,  "Ruing  Lock 

-"— — - 

Pine. 

a6ixMjx6 

Oblongs.    Arcs,    Geometric  Design.    Dove- 
tailing.    Work  from  Scale  of  One-half. 

c 


SQ 


31 

the  ruler  and  try-square.  These  two  tools  have  been 
spoken  of  as  emblems  of  moral  rectitude  by  which  the  child 
is  led  to  see  and  feel  what  is  really  honest  or  straight. 

It  is  an  interesting  observation,  which  every  teacher  of 
Sloyd  can  make  with  his  beginners,  that  the  pupils  will  at 
first  consider  their  work  very  good  even  if  it  varies  one- 
eighth  of  an  inch,  and  that  it  will  be  but  a  short  time  before 
they  have  grown  critical  enough  to  feel  dissatisfied  at  an 
error  of  only  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch.  And  thus  the 
standard  of  strict  honesty  will  rise,  increasing  in  clearness  all 
the  time.  In  the  drawing  which  the  pupil  follows,  the  di- 
mensions of  all  the  parts  are  given  ;  and  a  model  is  not 
considered  correct  unless  it  corresponds  exactly  with  this 
standard. 

Another  help  to  the  development  of  thoroughness,  hon- 
esty, and  truth,  is  that  Sloyd  models  are  finished  inside  and 
outside  with  equal  nicety. 

In  order  to  assist  the  child  in  thus  impartially  judging 
his  work,  some  teachers  have  the  pupils  write  upon  their 
finished  work  the  dimensions  they  should  have  obtained 
and  also  those  they  actually  have. 

Sloyd  pays  special  attention  to  physical  development, 
and  excludes  all  harmful  attitudes  and  movements ;  for  the 
child  develops  rapidly,  especially  in  those  muscles  and  in 
that  direction  in  which  he  is  most  active.  Some  writers 
have  said  that  the  child  will  instinctively  take  the  correct 
working  position,  but  a  little  observation  will  show  that 
he  may  not.  However,  an  enforced  position  should  not 
always  be  insisted  upon.  A  few  suggestions  from  the 
teacher  will  usually  be  sufficient  to  convince  the  pupil. 

Experiments  have  been  made  in  Sloyd  aiming  at  the 
equal  development  of  the  right  and  left  hand ;  but  as  yet  it 
has  not  been  found  to  be  practical,  though  we  still  insist 
upon  the  use  of  certain  tools  with  either  hand, —  namely, 
saws,  planes,  bits,  etc. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  Sloyd  can  take  the  place 


32 

of  Educational  Gymnastics,  or  Educational  Gymnastics  the 
place  of  Sloyd,  although  both  aim  at  general  education. 
There  is  no  conflict  between  the  two  :  they  ought  to  supple- 
ment each  other. 

It  was  originally  stated  that  Sloyd  was  only  adapted  to 
small  classes  or  to  individual  instruction,  and  all  ideal  in- 
struction ought  to  be  such.  But,  since  Sloyd  is  needed 
for  all  children  of  certain  grades  in  public  schools,  we  have 
to  do  the  best  we  can  with  large  classes.  I  should  recom- 
mend, however,  that  the  maximum  number  for  one  teacher 
be  twenty.  Since  the  Sloyd  course  is  so  thoroughly  graded, 
it  is  as  well,  and  better  adapted  to  class  instruction  than 
any  other  course  of  manual  training ;  for  all  these  kinds  of 
manual  training  require  that  some  individual  attention  be 
given  to  the  pupils.  For  classes  of  twenty  to  thirty  pupils 
it  may  be  necessary  to  keep  the  whole  class  together  on  the 
first  models.  But  this  working  together  must  not  continue 
beyond  the  time  when  the  pupils  can  be  effectually  handled 
individually. 

It  is  frequently  imagined  that  Sloyd  signifies  only  a  cer- 
tain set  of  useful  articles,  or  that  it  is  advocated  for  its  in- 
dustrial value  or  for  the  amusement  which  it  affords  the 
child.  Both  these  conceptions  are  erroneous.  The  ques- 
tion of  the  "  useful  model  "  has  been  carefully  considered 
from  a  psychological  point  of  view.  The  child  must  work 
for  an  end  that  is  good  and  desirable  to  him,  and  not 
merely  so  to  those  who  are  guiding  him  ;  for  the  training 
of  the  will  depends  on  "  the  ideas  of  the  end  of  the  action 
and  by  a  vivid  feeling  of  the  worth  of  that  end."  A  child 
cannot  have  "a  vivid  feeling  of  the  worth  "  of  articles  that 
are  of  no  use  when  completed. 

The  model  is  selected  bv  the  teacher  with  a  view  to 
the  steps  to  be  taken.  It  must  be  adapted  to  the  age  and 
condition  of  the  child  and  to  the  needs  or  requirements 
of  the  locality  where  the  school  is  established. 

In  the  Sloyd  models  which  I  have  the  pleasure   of  pre- 


33 

senting  here  there  are  required  in  the  actual  course  of  car- 
rying them  out  seventy-two  exercises  applied  in  thirty- 
one  models  and  executed  by  forty-seven  different  tools. 
"  Every  model  in  Sloyd  is  based  upon  the  exercises  of  the 
previous  models,  and  is  itself  an  introduction  to  the  models 
which  are  to  follow.  It  is  therefore  not  possible  to  get  a 
properly  arranged  course  by  annexing  to  a  series  of  joints  a 
few  of  the  most  striking  Sloyd  models.  Such  a  collection  of 
exercises  and  joints  does  not,  as  has  been  claimed,  combine 
the  advantages  of  both  svstems.  "  As  it  would  be  futile 
to  extract  a  single  chapter  in  a  novel,  apart  from  the  con- 
text, and  to  introduce  it  into  another  story,  so  it  is  equally 
meaningless  to  pick  out  a  few  of  the  Sloyd  models,  and  put 
them  into  another  wholly  different  system."  Executing 
abstract  exercises,  or  making  miniature  parts  instead  of 
complete  articles,  is  commonly  called  the  "  Russian  System 
of  Manual  Training."  The  Russian  system  is,  by  the 
way,  not  used  at  all  in  the  public  schools  of  Russia,  where 
they  have  for  years  been  teaching  the  Swedish  Sloyd. 
The  system  of  making  only  parts  of  things  and  single 
joints,  commonly  adopted  in  manual  training  schools  in 
this  country,  is  now  confined  in  Russia  to  technical  insti- 
tutes, more  particularly  to  the  railroad  schools,  which  are 
special  trade-schools.  Comparison  has  often  been  made 
between  the  Russian  system  and  that  of  Sloyd,  saying  that 
"  the  Russian  system  made  parts  and  that  Sloyd  made 
whole  things."  But  how  it  could  be  possible  to  make 
whole  things  without  making  its  parts,  also,  none  of  the 
advocates  of  the  Russian  system  have  ever  attempted  to 
demonstrate.  In  a  word,  Sloyd,  in  producing  well-made 
wholes,  cannot,  of  course,  slight  the  parts.  But  these 
parts  are  not  kept  by  themselves,  isolated,  and  therefore 
hardly  comprehensible  to  the  child.  They  are  made  with 
the  clear  conception  that  they  are  indispensable  parts  of 
the  whole.  Therefore,  this  mode  of  making  parts  will  be 
more   effective    educationally.     "  No   idea   or  fact  is  fully 


34 

comprehended  by  the  pupii  until  it  is  made  his  own,  and 
until  he  can  use  it  and  express  it."  As  the  exercises  em- 
bodied in  the  useful  model  of  the  Sloyd  series  are  based 
upon  pedagogical  principles,  so  the  teaching  of  them  must 
be.  Therefore,  Sloyd  requires  a  trained  teacher ;  and  you 
will  readily  see  that  the  average  artisan  is  not  likely  to 
bring  to  the  work  the  required  pedagogical  insight.  Such 
insight  forms  the  foundation  of  the  work  of  the  teacher, 
and  the  combination  of  this  insight  with  the  knowledge  of 
the  use  of  tools  constitutes  the  true  Sloyd  teacher.  The 
best  Sloyd  teacher  is  one  who  has  been  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  school  work,  practically  as  well  as  theoret- 
ically, and  who  has  taken  a  complete  course  in  Sloyd 
training.  His  manual  dexterity  need  by  no  means  be 
equal  to  that  of  an  expert  mechanic.  It  is  sufficient  for 
him  to  understand  and  handle  tools,  understand  the  reasons 
for  the  exercise,  execute  exact  work,  and  to  direct  and 
supervise  the  work  of  his  pupils. 

In  my  experience  I  find  that  it  requires  about  five 
hours  work  daily  for  five  months,  for  a  person  who  is 
already  a  teacher  to  satisfactorily  complete  a  Sloyd  course. 

The  value  of  a  series  of  Sloyd  models  can  only  be  logi- 
cally tested  by  a  consideration  of  their  fidelity  to  the  fun- 
damental principles  of  education ;  capricious  changes  of 
models  must  therefore  be  regarded  with  suspicion.  It  is 
also  evident  that,  while  no  one  series  of  models  need  be 
arbitrarily  used,  all  adaptations  which  conform  to  the  same 
principles  will  possess  strong  points  of  resemblance.  So 
long  as  the  criticism  of  the  complete  object  forms  the  basis 
of  judgment,  there  will  be  as  many  systems  as  there  are 
persons  to  make  new  models,  and  the  educational  value  of 
manual  training  will  suffer.  Not  until  the  motive  and  the 
significance  of  the  progression  of  exercises  is  understood 
can  the  value  of  any  system  of  work  be  estimated. 


IV. 

A   FEW  FACTS   CONCERNING  THE  WORK  OF  THE 
SLOYD    TRAINING   SCHOOL,  BOSTON. 

Presented  at  the  graduating  exercises,  May  25,  1895. 

Feeling  sure  that  your  interest  embraces  the  whole  field 
of  manual  training,  I  believe  that  you  will  welcome  a  brief 
report  from  that  corner  of  the  field  committed  to  my  care. 

There  are  certain  misapprehensions  regarding  our  work 
which  I  would  like  to  correct.  One  is  that  Sloyd  methods 
do  not  provide  for  sufficient  practice  with  tools.  In  this 
connection  let  me  say  that  the  Sloyd  Training  School  is 
just  issuing  some  pamphlets,  which,  I  hope,  will  receive 
your  attention. 

In  the  charts  accompanying  these  pamphlets  I  have 
emphasized  a  feature  of  Sloyd  that  is  not  always  appreci- 
ated. This  is  the  repetition  of  exercises  which  Sloyd 
affords,  and  which  is  not  always  properly  attended  to  by 
the  teachers. 

I  think  I  have  succeeded  in  showing  on  these  new 
charts,  not  only  the  new  exercises  in  each  model,  but  the 
very  frequent  repetition  of  exercises,  resulting  in  the  acquire- 
ment of  skill,  without  monotony,  which  has  hitherto  failed 
of  recognition. 

Another  mistaken  notion  about  Sloyd  is  that  it  is  re- 
garded as  a  finished,  perfect  system  by  its  promoters.  I  can 
speak  with  some  authority  in  this  matter,  and  I  deprecate 
most  earnestly  any  idea  of  finality  in  this  as  in  any  other 
branch  of  educational  work.  Sloyd  stands  for  study,  for 
growth,  and  for  progress.  There  is  nothing  fixed  or  final 
about  it. 

The  models  and  exercises  used  to-day   we  are  ready  to 


36 

set  aside  to-morrow  for  something  better ;  and  I  want  to 
report  that  this  has  just  been  done  with  our  elementary- 
course,  in  which  nine  models  have  been  replaced  by  such 
as  seemed  better  suited  to  our  purpose. 

The  only  thing  about  our  work  which  I  regard  as  a  fixed 
fact  is  that  the  basis  is  sound,  that  we  are  "  headed  "  in  the 
right  direction  ;  and  my  confidence  is  strengthened  by  many 
unexpected  letters  of  encouragement  and  commendation 
which  I  have  received  during  the  past  year  from  eminent 
educators,  and  scholars  in  various  parts  of  the  United 
States,  particularly  by  those  from  leading  psychologists. 
Another  and  more  practical  test  of  the  aim  ot  our  work 
is  the  result  obtained  by  Sloyd  methods  in  places  where 
it  has  had  abundant  opportunity  to  show  its  possibilities, 
as,  for  instance,  in  the  work  of  the  Concord  Reformatory 
and  the  Lyman  School,  Westboro,  where  Sloyd  has  been 
for  the  past  few  years  a  daily  exercise  ;  and  where  the  leading 
officers  of  those  institutions,  having  a  rare  opportunity  to 
observe  its  mental  and  moral  influence,  declare  it  to  be 
greater  than  that  of  any  reformatory  agent  which  has  come 
under  their  observation.  The  manual  skill  derived  from 
it  has  been  more  than  satisfactory.  It  is  particularly  sig- 
nificant that  in  those  institutions  industrial  work  of  various 
kinds  has  long  been  carried  on,  and  can  now  be  seen  side  by 
side  with  the  Sloyd. 

It  is  gratifying  to  announce  that  more  than  ten  thousand 
children  in  the  United  States  are  receiving  instruction  in 
Sloyd  given  by  graduates  of  our  training  classes,  of  whom 
we  have  sent  out  fifty-five.  Two  hundred  and  forty-three 
teachers  have  been  enrolled  in  the  Sloyd  Training  School, 
and  over  one  hundred  have  been  in  attendance  during  the 
past  year  (1895). 

I  have  recently  spent  much  time  in  investigating  the 
work  in  manual  training  in  high  schools.  I  have  watched 
classes  at  work  in  various  places,  and  have  talked  freely  with 
teachers  and  directors.      I   am   happy  to  report  that  I  find 


37 

men  of  established  reputation  engaged  in  this  work,  who  do 
not  consider  the  present  methods  as  final,  and  who  feel,  as  1 
do,  that  there  is  possibility  as  well  as  need  of  improvement 
in  these  courses.  This  fact  and  the  recent  act  of  the  legis- 
lature of  Massachusetts,  requiring  manual  training  in  high 
schools  in  every  city  having  over  twenty  thousand  inhab- 
itants, has  decided  me  to  devote  my  summer  this  year  to 
the  effort  of  working  out  and  arranging  a  high-school  course 
in  accordance  with  the  broadest  educational  principles. 

In  undertaking  this  work,  I  shall  warmly  welcome  the 
co-operation  of  men  of  experience  everywhere  who  agree 
witli  me  that  the  manual  training  methods  of  the  future  must 
be  kept  abreast  of  and  in  harmonv  with  the  best  educa- 
tional methods  of  the  day,  and  that  if  we,  who  now  occupy 
the  field,  do  not  meet  the  demand  of  the  times,  there  are 
those  just  ahead  of  us  in  the  moral  and  intellectual  fields  of 
work  who  will  surely  and  shortly  supersede  us. 

A  course  of  manual  training  for  high  schools  must 
teach  the  correct  use  of  the  various  tools  in  such  construc- 
tive work  as  embodies  the  underlying  principles  of  the  me- 
chanic arts,  and  in  such  a  way  that  the  pupil  mav  gain  the 
utmost  general  power  attainable  through  the  acquisition  of 
manual  skill. 

The  course  I  have  in  mind  will  cover  a  period  of  three 
years  in  the  high  school,  and  consists  of  bench-work,  wood- 
turning,  and  wood-carving  in  connection  with  mechanical 
drawing. 

I  ask  your  attention  to  points  which  I  consider  basal  in 
any  course  of  work  for  manual  training  in  high  schools. 

I .  The  course  should  be  based  upon  progressive  exercises, 
and  not  upon  models  or  tools,  the  progression  being  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  growing  power  of  the  worker.'^' 

1.  Every  exercise  should  be  such  as  to  give  the  pupil  a 
good  reason,  from  his  point  of  view,  for  putting  forth  his 
best  effort. 

*  By  an  exercise  in  Sloyd  I  mean  a  specific  use  of  a  tool  involving  certain  mental  and  phys- 
ical effort.  Rational  progression  will  hardly  allow  more  than  four  or  las  than  one  new  exercise 
in  a  model. 


38 

3.  The  exercises  should  be  appHed  on  objects  the  use  of 
which  can  be  thoroughly  appreciated  by  the  pupil. 

4.  Preference  should  be  given  to  exercises  which  will  aid 
the  pupil  in  the  laboratory  or  other  school  work. 

5.  Every  piece  of  work  should  be,  if  possible,  of  truly 
artistic  form  and  proportion. 

6.  The  course  should  be  interspersed  with  work  which 
develops  appreciation  of  curves  and  the  exercise  of  the  sense 
of  form  and  touch  in  judging  the  correctness. 

7.  Working  drawings  based  and  executed  on  scientific 
principles  should  precede  the  making  of  each  object. 

8.  Tools  and  instruments  should  be  such  as  are  in  gen- 
eral use  ;  and  preference  should  be  given  to  those  which  aid 
physical  development  and  which  are  the  least  mechanical, 
with  a  view  to  the  fullest  development  of  the  worker's 
original  power. 

9.  All  practice  given  merely  for  the  sake  of  gaining  facility 
in  the  use  of  tools  should  be  avoided. 

10.  A  variety  of  common  native  wood  suited  to  the 
character  of  the  objects  should  be  used  and  studied. 

Firmly  believing  that  the  efficiency  of  this  training  is  not 
limited  to  any  particular  line  of  work,  and  that  it  should 
accomplish  nothing  less  than  real  "  fitting  for  life,"  the  mak- 
ing of  true  citizens,  I  urge  the  importance  of  placing  work 
which  holds   such  possibilities  in  the  hands  of  true  teachers. 

Whoever  teaches  manual  training  must  of  course  be 
skilled  in  the  mechanic  arts  ;  but,  if  he  has  not  pedagogical 
tact,  if  he  cannot  touch  the  springs  of  action  in  the  life  of 
youth  so  that  the  best  is  brought  into  full  play,  I  do  not 
care  very  much  to  know  that  he  has  exceptional  technical 
skill  in  any  special  line  of  work.  What  I  do  want  to  know 
is  that  he  is  first  and  foremost  an  earnest  student  of  the  life 
of  youth,  and  that  he  works  to  promote  its  healthful  growth. 
Rightly  directed  power  is  what  we  are  after,  and  the  acquisi- 
tion of  certain  skill  must  be  made  a  means  to  this  end.  A 
true  teacher  knows  how  to  use  this  means  so  that  the  forces 
for  good  become  dominant  in  the  life. 


V. 

SLOYD. 

Address  delivered,  at  the  invitation  of  the  Connecticut  State  Teachers'  Asso- 
ciation, at  New  Haven,  Oct.  i6,  1896. 

As  I  am  an  advocate  of  manual  training,  you  doubtless 
think  of  m^e  as  an  enthusiastic  specialist,  who  sees  in  manual 
training  a  remedy  for  all  the  failings  of  the  schools  ;  and  you 
perhaps  expect  me  to  offer  a  few  arbitrary,  technical  methods 
for  your  consideration,  with  which  to  effect  reforms.  Allow 
me  to  say  from  the  outset  that  my  mission  is  not  that  of 
a  specialist  who  fails  to  appreciate  the  value  of  all  educa- 
tional influences  except  his  own  special  cure-all.  I  have 
not,  and  never  expect  to  have,  any  cast-iron  methods  of 
manual  training  to  recommend.  My  work  is,  however,  a 
constant  effort  to  discover  the  largest  possibilities  of  manual 
training  as  a  factor  in  general  education.  It  is  not  unlike 
the  work  to  which  each  one  of  you  is  devoted.  I  ask  you, 
therefore,  to  listen,  not  as  to  one  who  has  merely  a  new, 
outside  subject  to  urge  upon  the  schools,  but  to  one  who 
is  working  with  you  for  the  best  means  of  developing  char- 
acter in  the  children  committed  to  our  charge.  This,  and 
only  this,  I  believe,  should  be  the  test  of  all  subjects  taught 
in  public  schools  ;  and  should  it  not  also  be  the  guide  in 
the  choice  of  methods  by  which  all  educational  work  is 
carried  on  ? 

Our  school  courses  are  already  overcrowded,  and  the 
expense  of  carrying  on  the  schools  is  already  great.  We 
are,  therefore,  not  justified  in  introducing  a  new  subject,  un- 
less a  careful  study  of  the  growing  child  convinces  us  that 
his  welfare  demands  it ;  and  then  it  becomes  an  absolute 
necessitv.     The  chief  value  of  that  form  of  manual  train- 


40 

ing  which  I  shall  endeavor  to  present  to  you  is  not  that 
it  will  directly  help  children  to  earn  their  living,  fit  them 
for  a  trade,  or  discover  to  them  their  professional  bent. 
These  are  good  aims  and  ends,  which  ought  to  be  accom- 
plished, and  which  will  be  furthered  by  the  means  I  shall 
recommend ;  but  they  are  not  the  real  purpose  of  general 
education,  nor  are  they  the  special  business  of  the  public 
schools.  What  is  the  aim  of  education  ?  This  is  the 
question  that  teachers  and  promoters  of  special  movements 
should  constantly  ask  themselves.  Is  it  not  the  develop- 
ment of  good  mental  habits,  power  in  active  doing,  and  the 
healthy  and  happy  life  ?  That  is  my  idea  of  its  mission,  and 
I  believe  that  I  only  share  the  feeling  of  our  best  educators. 
A  recent  writer  in  the  Educational  Review  says,  "  Without 
our  knowing  it,  the  social  ideal  of  an  intelligent,  full,  free, 
happy  human  life  for  every  boy  and  girl  born  or  brought 
into  our  midst  has  gained  possession  of  our  minds  and 
hearts."  Dr.  C.  Hanford  Henderson,  in  the  Popular 
Science  Monthly^  also  says,  "  What  we  want  is  radiant  boys, 
breathing  the  full  breath  of  life  and  health,  thinking  clearly, 
feeling  deeply,  rich  in  the  fine  riches  of  the  human  spirit, — 
the  riches  that  come  from  the  expanding  and  unfolding  of 
the  human  faculties." 

This  is  the  spirit  of  the  times,  or,  rather,  it  is  the  spirit 
of  true  teaching.  It  is  the  spirit  that  possessed  Comenius, 
Pestalozzi,  Frobel,  and  the  spirit  that  has  possessed  all 
true  teachers.  Let  it  possess  us  and  guide  us.  Let  it 
control  whatever  means  we  employ,  whatever  we  carry  into 
the  school.  The  end  will  control  the  means  used  to  secure 
it.  The  end,  as  we  see  it,  demands  a  sound  body,  con- 
trolled by  an  intelligent  mind,  and  a  free,  joyous  spirit. 
We  who  undertake  manual  training  must  consider,  then, 
how  to  promote  and  employ  physical  power  most  effec- 
tively ;  and,  to  do  this,  I  think  that  we  must  make  the 
spontaneous  interests  of  childhood  the  basis  of  sustained 
effort.      If  such   consideration    were    foremost  with    every 


41 

manual  training  teacher,  if  the  natural  interests  and  de- 
velopment of  childhood  rather  than  the  acquirement  of 
technical  skill  were  to  determine  the  courses  of  manual 
work  planned  for  children,  there  would  be  a  revolution  in 
many  manual  training  schools.  I  should  never  expect  all 
manual  training  teachers  to  use  exactly  the  same  methods 
or  the  same  courses  of  work;  but  the  principles  of  educa- 
tion are  universal,  and,  wherever  these  are  followed,  there 
will  be  a  certain  similarity  of  methods.  For  instance,  could 
a  teacher  who  is  alive  to  the  value  of  the  spontaneous  in- 
terests of  boyhood  put  a  boy  to  work  on  abstract  exercises 
for  which  he  can  see  no  use?  If  the  manual  training 
teacher  appreciates  the  importance  of  a  normal  physical 
growth,  would  he  fail  to  provide  for  it,  or  would  he  allow 
such  work  or  the  use  of  such  tools  as  retard  or  interfere 
with  that  growth,  however  fascinating  the  work  might  be  ? 
Let  me  take,  for  example,  the  much-advocated  and  much- 
used  fret-saw  and  the  knife  work  in  thin  wood,  both  of 
which  are  commonly  used  in  a  sitting  position,  with  con- 
stant repetition  of  the  same  movements,  giving  no  general 
physical  development,  and  even  tending  sometimes  to  in- 
jurious bodily  results.  The  argument  that  children  like  it 
is  hardly  sufficient  to  justify  its  use.  Amusement  is  often 
mistaken  for  interest.  It  is  not  safe  to  argue  that  what 
fascinates  a  child  is  always  desirable  for  him.  The  problem 
is  to  make  attractive  that  which  is  desirable.  When  I  was 
a  boy,  we  used  to  be  exceedingly  amused  by  standing  on 
our  heads  and  seeing  which  could  eat  the  most  candy  in 
that  position  ;  but  the  mental  or  physical  benefit  of  the  ex- 
ercise might  be  reasonably  questioned.  Only  the  other 
day  I  met  a  manual  training  teacher  who  told  me  that  he 
had  taken  a  course  in  elementary  manual  work  during  the 
summer.  He  considered  it  "  excellent  "  on  account  of  the 
many  attractive  objects  he  had  made  and  the  problems  he 
had  worked  out ;  but  he  said  that  his  muscles  ached  from 
the  continuous,  one-sided,  cramped  movements  required  for 


42 

the  work.  It  seems  needless  to  say  that  such  manual 
training  as  this,  whether  popular  or  not,  should  be  con- 
demned. When  a  child  is  set  to  sawing,  and  made  to  con- 
tinue that  exercise  until  he  has  mastered  sawing,  then 
planing  until  he  can  do  skilful  planing,  or,  indeed,  if  he  be 
kept  too  long  at  any  continuous  and  monotonous  exercise, 
then  it  is  certain  that  even  the  physical  needs  of  the  worker 
have  not  been  taken  into  account.  But  this  is  not  all :  we 
should  also  ask  ourselves  what  the  boy  is  thinking  about 
while  he  is  sawing,  planing,  etc.  Has  he  been  doing  work 
which  gratifies  the  taste,  which  trains  the  eye  to  see  beauty 
of  line,  form,  and  proportion,  and  which  awakens  natural 
enthusiasm?  In  short,  has  his  life  been  touched,  at  as 
many  points  as  possible,  through  the  work  he  has  in  hand  ? 
The  amount  of  hand-work  accomplished,  the  ability  to  saw 
and  plane  exactly  or  to  make  a  few  joints  correctly,  is  not 
what  we  are  now  after.  The  mind  and  heart  of  the  boy 
must  not  be  forgotten  while  his  hands  are  supplied  with 
work.  Psychologists  tell  us  that  skill  does  not  exist  m  the 
hand,  but  in  the  brain.  Let  the  work,  then,  appeal  to  the 
intelligence  of  the  worker.  Let  it  require  his  full  thought 
and  attention,  cultivate  his  taste,  and,  above  all,  let  it,  as 
far  as  possible,  appeal  to  the  human  heart.  Let  what  he 
makes  be  something,  if  possible,  connected  with  the  most 
natural  and  best  interests  of  his  life,  so  that,  while  his  hands 
are  at  work,  his  thoughts  are  likely  to  be  wholesome,  gen- 
erous, and  joyous.  In  the  words  of  another,  "  Let  the  boy 
in  the  manual  training  school  get  the  satisfaction  out  of  his 
work  which  the  boy  on  the  farm  feels  when  allowed  to  help 
shingle  the  shed,  which  the  girl  feels  when  she  makes  her 
first  loaf  of  bread  or  sets  the  last  stitch  in  a  finished  gar- 
ment ;  for  by  such  simple  methods,  which  are  God's  own 
ways,  is  developed  that  moral  enthusiasm  the  lack  of  which 
is  said  to  be  the  crying  need  of  our  public  education." 

If  you  think  that  manual  skill,  as  such,  will   necessarily 
make  our  children  better,  consider  the  great  skill  and  Intel- 


43 

ligence  of  those  who  pick  locks  and  construct  infernal  ma- 
chines. Reflect  a  moment  upon  the  skill  of  many  inmates 
of  our  prisons  and  reformatories.  How  have  they  acquired 
it?  Often,  I  believe,  by  laborious  practice  to  obtain  accu- 
racy and  skill  of  hand,  with  no  other  conscious  motive  than 
the  attainment  of  that  skill.  This  is  to  me  a  very  impor- 
tant point.  BeHeving,  as  I  do,  that  habits  and  ideas  which 
are  formed  during  vigorous  muscular  effort  are  the  most  im- 
pressive and  lasting,  it  is  my  opinion  that  the  motive  of  the 
vv^orker,  whether  near  or  remote,  should  be  seriously  con- 
sidered in  every  step  of  manual  training ;  and  a  satisfactory 
motive  is  best  supplied,  I  think,  in  the  production  of  use- 
ful objects  for  the  worker  himself,  his  home,  or  his  friends, 
objects  also  which  furnish  the  pleasantest  and  most  whole- 
some association  of  ideas.  By  this  you  will  see  that  it  will 
not  be  possible  or  rational  to  have  a  fixed  set  of  objects 
for  every  country  or  school :  the  worker,  his  tastes,  needs, 
and  surroundings,  must  always  be  kept  in  mind.  As  manual 
training  comprises  all  hand-work,  it  is  to  be  considered  what 
material  is  best  fitted  for  school  purposes.  We  should 
choose  such  as  will  give  the  greatest  variety  of  healthful, 
vigorous  physical  movements ;  and,  among  all  occupations 
tried,  working  in  wood  with  a  large  variety  of  carpenters' 
tools  has  been  found  best  for  this  purpose.  Wood  is  clean, 
also ;  and  the  work-room  should  be  clean  and  orderly,  Hke 
a  school,  and  not  like  a  shop.  The  system  of  wood-work 
which  seems  to  me  most  nearly  to  fulfil  the  desired  condi- 
tions is  called  Sloyd.  What  is  Sloyd  ?  It  is  not  knife 
work  wholly  or  chiefly.  Sloyd  is  not  a  set  of  models.  It 
is  not  a  prescribed  course  of  exercises.  It  is  not  the  use  of 
certain  tools.  Sloyd  is  a  system  of  educational  hand-work, 
so  arranged  and  carried  out  as  to  employ  and  direct  the  vig- 
orous self-activity  of  a  student  for  a  purpose  which  he 
recognizes  as  good.  The  spontaneous  exercise  of  the  crea- 
tive faculty  for  a  useful  and  good  end  is  a  moral  tonic.  The 
mere  acquisition  of  skill  is  not  necessarily  so.     It  will  be 


44 

seen  that,  when  a  manual  training  teacher  says  that  he  has 
"  partly  Sloyd  "  and  partly  some  other  system,  it  is  the  same 
as  to  say,  "  Partly  I  provide  for  what  is  best  for  the  child,, 
and  partly  I  do  something  else."  Such  work  cannot  be  based 
on  sound  educational  principles  ;  neither  can  that  where 
models  are  used  without  appreciation  of  their  significance, 
although  this  is  sometimes  called  Sloyd.  It  is  no  wonder 
that  earnest  investigators  of  systems  of  manual  training  are 
confused  by  the  cries  of  "  Lo  here  !  and  lo  there  !  "  If  there 
are  such  in  my  audience,  let  me  advise  them  to  put  a  few 
searching  questions  before  they  pass  judgment  upon  any 
course  of  work.  These  questions  will  show  what  the  Sloyd 
standard  is,  and  will  help  to  determine  when  a  given  course 
of  work  may  properly  bear  that  name. 

1.  Are  the  models  useful,  serviceable  objects,  which  are 
likely  to  arouse  the  lively  interest  of  young  pupils? 

2.  Are  the  exercises  and  tools  arranged  with  reference  to 
the  worker's  growth  of  power  ?  Do  they  call  for  a  gradual 
increase  of  effort,  step  by  step  ? 

3.  Does  the  first  exercise  with  each  tool  give  a  correct, 
effective  impression  of  its  typical  use? 

4.  Do  the  objects  afford  due  variety  of  form,  and  are  the 
proportions  good  ? 

5.  Are  curved  outlines,  to  which  ordinary  testing  tools 
cannot  be  applied,  conspicuous  thoughout  the  course? 

6.  Do  the  finished  models  represent,  in  every  respect, 
the  pupil's  own  work  ? 

7.  Are  tools  and  exercises  selected  with  reference  to 
physical  development  ? 

I  hope  you  will  not  infer  from  anything  I  have  said  that 
I  do  not  value  manual  skill  in  teacher  and  in  pupil.  I  have 
only  tried  to  show  that  skill  is  not  the  primary  consideration. 
It  has  been  truly  said  of  general  education  that,  "where 
technical  results  are  given  first  consideration,  there  the 
largest  possibilities  of  educational  work  must  always  be  seri- 
ously dwarfed  or  lost  altogether,"  and  also  that  "  technical 


45 

skill  must  be  taught  its  place  in  manual  training  as  in  other 
branches  of  education."      I,  for  one,  firmly  believe  that  here 
as    elsewhere,  while    skill  is  not  undervalued,   it  must  be 
regarded  as  subservient  to  that  which   is   the   highest  aim 
of  all  training,  a  broad  and  noble  manhood  and  womanhood. 
These  are  ambitious  words,  but  I  believe  that  manual  trainers 
must  not  be  more  willing  than  other  teachers  to  accept  a  lower 
aim.     As  a  matter  of  fact,  manual  training,  based  upon  the 
principles  which  I   have  tried  to  set  before  you,  when  well 
taught,  under  favorable  conditions,  will  in  the  end  insure  a 
higher  degree  of  general  skill  than  is  attainable  by  the  more 
technical  or  industrial  methods.      Striking  examples  of  this 
may  be  found  in  certain  places  where  Sloyd  is  used  side  by 
side  with  the  trade-school.     Of  course,  the  manual  training 
teacher  should  have  a  very   considerable  degree  of  manual 
skill  and  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  technical  part  of  the 
subject ;  but  a  mechanic  or  draftsman  cannot  often  be  safely 
employed  as  a  teacher  on  account  of  his  technical  skill  alone 
or  chiefly.      Long  experience  in  using  carpenters'  tools  and 
draftsmen's  instruments  does  not  necessarily  fit  one  for  this 
work.      Psychological  insight  and  the  teacher's  training  and 
tact  are  of  first  importance  here  as  elsewhere  ;  and,  if  we  can 
add  to  these  a  high  degree  of  technical  skill,  we  shall  have 
an  ideal  manual  training  teacher.     Such  a  combination,  how- 
ever, is  rare;  and,  of  the  two,  the  teacher  is  to  be  preferred 
to  the  mechanic  for  manual  training  every  time.      It  is  safer 
to  have  a  person  who  is  three-quarters  teacher   and  one- 
quarter  mechanic  than  the  reverse. 

It  is  my  experience  that  about  one  year  of  special  train- 
ing in  manual  training  work  will  fit  one  who  is  already  a 
good  teacher  to  conduct  the  tool  work  in  grammar  schools. 
For  high-school  work  additional  time  would  be   necessary. 

A  few  words  about  the  m.aterial  part  of  the  work.  Large, 
well-lighted,  and  well-ventilated  rooms  should  always  be 
provided  for  manual  training.  For  many  reasons  it  is  a 
great  mistake  to  put  this  work  into   inferior  rooms.      It  is 

# 


46 

not  only  unhygienic,  but  the  whole  subject  is  then  likely  to 
be  looked  upon  as  merely  an  appendix  to  the  school,  and  to 
be  less  respected  by  both  teacher  and  pupil.  As  for  base- 
ments or  rooms  not  perfect  in  sanitary  conditions,  they 
should  not  be  considered  for  a  moment.  The  best  order 
should  prevail.  Tools  and  materials  should  be  kept  on 
neatly  arranged  shelves  and  racks,  all,  if  possible,  within 
sight.  The  best  quality  of  tools  should  be  selected :  they 
are  the  cheapest  in  the  long  run.  A  fine  finish  of  shelves, 
benches,  and  racks,  is  recommended,  as  securing  greater 
care.  Rough  benches  and  tools  are  often  found  to  be 
scratched  and  cut.  The  price  of  a  manual  training  outfit 
varies  according  to  the  number  and  quality  of  tools  used. 
The  grammar  schools  in  the  cities  I  am  acquainted  with 
have  usually  estimated  the  cost  at  about  ^20  for  each 
child.  This  outfit  is  quite  complete  and  of  the  best  quality. 
An  ordinary  school-room,  28  x  32  feet,  will  conveniently 
accommodate  twenty  pupils,  which  number  I  consider  large 
enough  for  one  teacher  to  handle  satisfactorily.  Running 
expenses  for  material,  such  as  wood  and  paper,  are  com- 
paratively slight,  about  seventy-five  cents  a  year  for  each 
child. 


VI. 

SOME    OBSERVATIONS    ON  MANUAL  TRAINING  IN 
EUROPE  AND  AMERICA. 

Paper  read  at  the  meeting  of  the  Committee  on  Manual  Training  of  the 
New  England  Educational  Workers,  Nov.  ii,  1896. 

I  have  been  honored  by  being  asked  to  speak  about 
manual  training  as  I  have  observed  it  in  this  country  and 
in  Europe.  These  observations  are  necessarily  colored  by 
my  own  convictions.  I  have  noticed  that,  wherever  a  free 
silver  advocate  travelled,  he  found  the  people  unanimously 
in  favor  of  free  silver;  while  a  sound  money  advocate, 
visiting  the  same  region,  found  overwhelming  majorities  in 
favor  of  the  gold  standard. 

A  manual  training  teacher  may  visit  a  country,  and 
return  with  enthusiastic  accounts  of  what  he  found  there, 
because  the  work  he  saw  accorded  with  his  own  notions ; 
while  another,  visiting  the  same  country,  will  condemn  the 
methods  used.  Mere  statistics,  of  course,  are  not  affected 
by  individual  views ;  but  I  know  your  interest  is  not  con- 
fined to  bare  facts.  You  are  bristling  with  whys  and 
wherefores. 

I  want  to  take  a  few  moments  to  explain  to  you  the 
standpoint  from  which  I  view  this  matter  of  manual  train- 
ing. I  am  particularly  anxious  to  make  this  clear  because 
I  fear  that  I  have  not  always  been  successflil  in  the  past  in 
this  respect.  I  fear  that  I  have  sometimes  failed  to  make 
my  position  understood,  even  by  those  who  have  been 
closely  associated  with  me  in  this  work. 

I  do  not  ask  you  to  attend  to  me  because  I  have  trav- 
elled somewhat,  and  have  visited  many  schools.  Emerson 
tells   us    that  "  travelling  is   a   symptom  of  unsoundness, 


48 

affecting  the  whole  intellectual  action,"  that  "  they  who 
made  England,  Italy,  or  Greece  venerable  in  the  imagina- 
tion, did  so  by  sticking  fast  where  they  were."  What  he 
says  in  this  connection  of  the  artist  who  seeks  foreign 
cities  in  order  to  make  an  artist  of  himself  seems  to  me 
applicable  to  the  teacher  who  thinks  it  necessary  to  go 
abroad  to  acquire  the  teacher's  spirit.  I  shall  take  the 
liberty  of  substituting  the  word  "teacher"  for  "artist"  in 
the  sentence  of  Emerson  which  I  am  about  to  quote  :  "It 
was  in  his  own  mind  that  the  teacher  sought  his  model." 
"  It  was  an  application  of  his  own  thought  to  the  thing  to 
be  done  and  the  conditions  to  be  observed."  "  Beauty, 
convenience,  grandeur  of  thought,  are  as  near  to  us  as  to 
any;  and  If  the  American  teacher  will  study  with  hope  and 
love  the  precise  thing  to  be  done  by  him,  considering  the 
climate,  the  soil,  the  length  of  the  day,  the  wants  of  the 
people,  the  habit  and  form  of  government,"  then,  I  would 
say,  the  purpose  of  education  will  be  fulfilled.  Do  not 
think,  however,  that  I  do  not  also  appreciate  the  benefit  of 
travel  and  the  observation  of  good  work,  wherever  it  is  to 
be  found. 

But  the  question  is  not  How  much  has  one  seen,  how 
much  has  one  travelled,  but  What  has  he  looked  for,  and 
with  what  intelligence  has  he  investigated  ?  The  purpose 
in  it  all  is  the  only  thing  which  should  command  respect. 
I  want  to  say  from  the  outset  that  I  advocate  manual 
training  only  in  so  far  as  It  furthers  to  the  utmost  of  its  • 
capacity  the  high  purpose  of  general  education.  To  explain 
what  I  mean  by  that,  I  would  refer  all  teachers  to  an 
article  by  Dr.  Hanford  Henderson,  entitled  "  The  Aim  of 
Modern  Education"  ;  and  I  ask  you  to  bear  in  mind  that 
It  was  written  by  the  principal  of  one  of  the  leading  manual 
training  schools  in  this  country.  While  I  heartily  believe  in 
this  broad  view  of  education,  and  feel  strongly  that  the 
manual  training  teacher  should  consider  the  training  of  the 
whole  child,  I  do  not  claim  that  manual  training  is  the  only 


49 

remedy  for  the  shortcomings  of  the  schools.  I  do  think, 
however,  that  it  might  be  made  one  of  the  most  effective 
agents  in  general  education. 

As  a  test  of  manual  training,  I  have  sometimes  thought 
it  would  be  well  to  imagine  a  boy  who  has  been  most 
skilfully  trained  in  manual  work  suddenly  deprived  of  his 
hands.  Then  let  the  teacher  ask  himself,  What  has  that 
boy  been  acquiring  which  is  not  lost  by  this  calamity?  If 
it  can  be  shown  that  by  means  of  this  manual  work  a  gain 
has  been  made  in  physical  development,  the  power  of  clear 
thinking,  strength  of  character  and  will  power,  then  one 
has  a  right  to  feel  that  the  most  important  aim  of  manual 
training  has  been  accomplished.  And  I  firmly  believe  that, 
where  these  results  are  the  first  consideration,  manual  skill 
and  abiUty  for  bread-winning  will  be  greater  than  where 
skill  is  the  chief  aim  of  the  work.  With  this  idea  in  my 
mind,  I  have  always  investigated  methods  of  manual  train- 
ing. I  have  taken  very  little  pains  to  gather  statistics  in 
my  travels.  I  have  not  been  moved  to  hasten  thither  by 
hearing  that  some  very  elaborate  models  and  carvings  have 
been  worked  out  in  Holland,  or  that  there  is  a  school  in 
Vienna  which  teaches  fanciful  designs  in  leather  and  poker 
drawing ;  but  I  believe  that  I  would  travel  on  mv  hands 
and  knees,  if  necessary,  to  find  manual  training  in  the 
hands  of  a  great  teacher.  I  believe  that  manual  training 
teachers  are  on  the  wrong  track  whenever  they  try  to  get 
at  the  heart  of  manual  training  by  seeking  the  largest 
establishments  and  greatest  variety  of  industrial  pursuits. 
I  have  heard  that  all  that  is  needed  to  make  a  university  is 
a  log  with  Mark  Hopkins  on  one  end  of  it  and  a  student 
on  the  other.  Perhaps  the  greatest  and  most  important 
manual  training  school  that  has  yet  existed  was  the  spot 
where  Cygnaeus  and  Salomon  held  counsel  together.  In 
Finland  there  were  no  extensive  shops  to  go  through,  no 
great  schools  to  visit,  but  there  was  a  teacher.  I  wish  I 
could   tell    you   that   I  have  always  found  manual  trainingj 


50 

either  in  Europe  or  America,  in  the  hands  of  teachers ; 
but  m)'^  observation  will  show  that,  on  the  contrary,  this 
work  is  still  too  generally  in  the  hands  of  mechanics  and 
artisans. 

The  teachings  of  Herr  Salomon  in  Sweden  are  too  well 
known  in  this  company  to  need  comment  from  me.  But 
even  in  Sweden,  as  elsewhere,  there  is  too  wide  a  gulf  be- 
tween theory  and  practice ;  and  the  equipment  of  the  Sloyd 
schools  is  still  comparatively  poor.  There  are,  however, 
certain  advantages  there  which  ought  to  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration. The  artisan  teachers  are  becoming  fewer  and 
fewer,  and  only  those  who  have  shown  teaching  ability  are 
now  generally  retained. 

The  smaller  number  of  pupils  given  to  each  teacher, 
twenty  being  the  largest  number,  is  a  very  important  feature 
of  the  Swedish  schools.  The  regular  teacher  is  trained  to 
teach  the  Sloyd ;  and  this  insures,  in  the  first  place,  the 
holding  of  the  teacher's  certificate  by  the  manual  training 
instructor,  also  the  better  acquaintance  with  his  pupils, 
which  enables  him  to  reach  certain  individual  weaknesses 
and  difiiculties  through  his  manual  training. 

In  Gothenburg,  Sweden,  there  are  now  twenty-five 
manual  training  centres,  where  all  the  boys  in  the  four 
upper  grammar  grades  receive  instruction  in  wood-work 
and  some  in  iron-work.  The  teachers,  according  to  the 
rules  and  regulations,  should  give  forty-four  hours  instruc- 
tion a  week  ;  but  they  give  at  present  only  forty-two  hours, 
or  seven  hours  a  day  six  days  in  the  week.  Each  pupil 
receives  from  six  to  eight  hours'  instruction  a  week,  divided 
into  three  lessons.  The  maximum  number  of  pupils  in  a 
class  is  twenty,  and  the  instruction  is  almost  entirely  in- 
dividual. 

Working  drawings  are  used,  but  not  made.  They  are 
bound  in  convenient  book  form  for  each  pupil.  The 
course  is  based  entirely  upon  Sloyd  principles,  though  the 
models  differ  somewhat  from  those  used  at  Naas.     It  was 


51 

particularly  interesting  to  watch  a  class  in  iron-work.  The 
boys  used  their  tools  with  remarkable  precision  and  interest. 
The  models  of  this  course  are  finished,  useful  articles,  all 
progressively  arranged.  The  teachers  hold  monthly  meet- 
ings to  discuss  matters  regarding  the  instruction,  change  of 
models,  etc.  ;  and  a  society  formed  among  the  Sloyd  teachers 
owns  quite  an  extensive  library  of  books  and  pamphlets  on 
education  and  manual  training  in  particular.  In  Gothen- 
burg I  was  glad  to  see  also  that  Sloyd  is  used  in  the  high 
school  with  marked  success.  This  is  rational,  for  Sloyd  is 
simply  manual  training  adapted  to  the  needs  of  pupils  of 
any  age.  The  moral  gain  to  boys  in  making  useful  objects 
should  not  be  ignored  in  high-school  work.  If  acquiring 
skill  were  always  associated  with  accomplishing  a  definite 
good,  which  the  worker  appreciates,  idleness  and  crime 
would  be  less  frequent  in  our  midst. 

At  the  seventh  Scandinavian  school  meeting,  held  in 
Stockholm  last  year,  over  six  thousand  teachers  from 
Sweden,  Norway,  Denmark,  and  Finland,  were  represented. 
Several  papers  on  manual  training  were  read,  followed  by 
full  discussion.  I  also  had  the  pleasure  at  this  meeting  of 
presenting  a  paper  on  Sloyd  in  American  schools.  At  this 
meeting  the  following  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted : 
"  Manual  training  in  schools  must  be  arranged  in  accord- 
ance with  general  educational  principles."  The  instruction 
should  consequently :  — 

I.   Begin  with  concrete  objects. 

1.  Proceed  from  the  easy  to  the  more  difficult  without 
break. 

3.  It  should  be  individual. 

4.  Should  give  general  development  of  the  pupil's  powers, 
arouse  interest  in  manual  work,  promote  order,  exactness, 
and  neatness,  develop  self-activity,  and  lastly,  which  is  the 
chief  condition,  it  should  be  carried  on  by  a  properly  trained 
teacher  who  has  sufficient  insight  and  skill  in  both  theory 
and  practice. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

CAVTTA     RARUARA    rOTTFC;!?    TTP"  " 


It  seems  strange  that  in  Germany,  the  home  of  so  many 
great  educators,  manual  training  should  not  be  greatly 
practised  in  the  schools.  I  had  some  interesting  talks  with 
Dr.  Goetze.  He  is  the  leader  of  the  manual  training 
movement  in  Germany,  and  director  of  the  Manual  Train- 
ing Teacher's  Institute  at  Leipzig.  He  deplores  the  fact 
that  his  country  is  so  slow  to  see  the  necessity  of  this  work. 
He  told  me  that  there  is  a  great  need  in  Germany  of  the 
philanthropic  public  spirit,  which  has  done  so  much  in  the 
United  States  to  make  the  benefits  of  manual  training  rec- 
ognized. In  Dr.  Goetze's  school  a  great  variety  of  manual 
work  is  taught,  such  as  wood-work,  clay,  cardboard,  and 
metal  work.  In  this  school,  as  at  Naas,  there  are  short 
courses  for  teachers  which  can  be  taken  in  a  few  weeks. 
With  the  exception  of  one  or  two  practice  pieces  in  each 
course  the  models  are  all  finished  objects.  In  form  and 
proportion,  and  also  in  the  progression  of  exercises,  the 
models  seem  to  me  not  wholly  satisfactory.  The  card- 
board work  seems  to  be  very  good,  particularly  in  the 
choice  of  color  and  material ;  but  I  should  consider  it  to 
be  too  difficult  for  children.  The  tuition  for  each  course 
for  normal  students  is  seventy-five  marks  (about  eighteen 
dollars).  I  found  the  students  very  enthusiastic  in  their 
work ;  but  the  preparation  they  were  making  for  teaching 
manual  training  seemed  to  me  to  be  inadequate,  unless  the 
preliminary  training  had  been  very  thorough. 

The  instructors,  with  the  exception  of  the  learned  Dr. 
Goetze,  are  skilful  artisans  merely.  The  German  Asso- 
ciation for  Manual  Instruction  is  doing  very  effective  work 
in  Germany  through  publications,  meetings,  and  constant 
agitation  of  the  subject.  I  met  the  able  president,  Herr 
von  Schenckendorff,  whose  writings  I  had  read  for  years. 
I  found  him  very  hopeful  and  enthusiastic.  At  Halle  I 
visited  Franke's  famous  institutions,  and  was  surprised  and 
disappointed  not  to  find  any  kind  of  manual  training 
practised  there, —  the  very   subject  upon  which  the  famous 


53 

founder  laid  so  much  stress.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
August  Hermann  Franke  is  the  man  whose  faith  in  the 
health-giving  power  of  manual  work  was  so  great  that  he 
had  wood-turning  lathes  introduced  in  the  children's  hospi- 
tal at  Halle,  in  order  to  give  the  children  as  soon  as 
possible  healthy  and  interesting  exercises. 

At  the  Berlin  educational  exhibit,  which  I  visited  last 
summer,  the  most  conspicuous  feature  of  the  manual  train- 
ing department  was  the  chip-carving.  This  very  orna- 
mental and  fascinating  work  I  know  by  experience  to  be 
extremely  tedious,  too  much  so,  I  believe,  for  the  good  of 
children. 

The  interesting  exhibit  made  by  the  Pestalozzi-Frobel- 
haus  in  Berlin,  while  far  ahead  of  anything  I  saw  in  Ger- 
many in  that  line  of  manual  work,  did  not  seem  to  me  to 
compare  favorably  with  the  kindergarten  work  done  in  this 
country.  The  exhibit  of  illustrations  and  apparatus  for 
science  work  was  most  complete  and  excellent.  England 
seems  to  be  very  wide-awake  to  the  importance  of  manual 
training.  I  have  met  the  leading  manual  training  instruc- 
tors of  London,  Sheffield,  Birmingham,  Manchester,  and 
Liverpool,  have  had  some  interesting  conferences  and  cor- 
respondence with  them,  and  have  seen  their  classes  at  work. 
In  Sheffield  and  Manchester,  where  some  trained  teachers 
are  employed,  Sloyd  models  are  largely  used.  In  London, 
Liverpool,  and  Birmingham  some  practice  pieces  are  used ; 
but  these  are  rapidly  going  out  of  favor.  With  a  few 
exceptions  the  instructors  in  these  cities  were  artisans.  In 
Birmingham  I  met  Mr.  A.  W.  Bevis,  a  leader  of  manual 
training,  and  found  him  a  most  interesting  example  of  a 
skilful  engineer,  who  is  also  a  natural  teacher  and  an  eager 
student.  His  conferences  with  the  teachers  of  young 
children  are  very  interesting  and  suggestive.  I  was  espe- 
cially interested  in  his  plan  for  paper-folding,  brick-laying, 
and  parcel-tying,  and  the  drawings  connected  with  these 
things,  all  to  be  carried  on  in  the  regular  class-room  by  the 
class  teacher. 


54 

During  last  summer  I  had  a  very  interesting  interview, 
also,  with  Mr.  A.  B.  Badger,  organizing  secretary  for 
technical  instruction.  He  is  the  notable  English  teacher 
who  was  lately  commissioned  to  investigate  and  make  a 
report  on  manual  training.  He  made  a  thorough  investi- 
gation and  a  full  report.  This  report  made  a  careful  com- 
parison between  the  usual  practice  work  with  tools  and 
that  which  is  based  upon  purely  educational  principles. 
He  pays  a  high  tribute  to  Sloyd,  which  has  also  many 
other  enthusiastic  advocates  in  England.  I  should  say 
that,  in  the  literature  of  manual  training,  England  is  far 
ahead  of  other  countries.  Large  numbers  of  English 
teachers  go  yearly  to  Naas  to  take  the  course  there  and  get 
the  inspiration  of  Herr  Salomon's  lectures.  So  far  as  I  know, 
there  is  in  England  no  special  school  for  fitting  teachers  for 
manual  training.  Short  courses  of  five  or  six  weeks  are 
given,  during  the  summer  months,  in  various  parts  of  the 
country  by  private  teachers.  Examinations  for  manual 
training  teachers  are,  however,  held  under  the  city  and  guild 
of  London  Institute  and  other  educational  bodies.  For  the 
advanced  certificate  of  the  Educational  Handwork  Union 
a  record  of  fifty  hours'  practical  work  in  a  class  conducted 
by  an  approved  teacher  is  required,  besides  the  writing  of  a 
thesis,  some  drawing,  and  the  making  of  an  original  model. 

The  manual  training  movement  has  been  more  fortunate 
in  this  country  in  many  respects  than  in  Europe.  Philan- 
thropy has  aided  it, —  indeed,  has  been  its  entering  wedge, 
— while  the  interest  and  co-operation  of  American  teachers 
has  been  of  great  value  to  the  cause.  The  buildings, 
tools,  and  equipments  in  America  also  surpass  any  I  have 
seen  in  Europe;  and  the  number  of  manual  training  schools 
increases  more  rapidly  here. 

Before  we  congratulate  ourselves,  however,  upon  the 
rapid  multiplication  of  manual  training  schools  in  our 
midst,  it  is  well  to  know  what  these  schools  are  doing. 

The  school  is  a  good  thing  when  it  stands  for  education ; 


55 

but  a  school,  however  well  equipped,  in  the  hands  of 
Dickens's  Mr.  Squeers,  had  better  not  exist.  The  inves- 
tigations of  your  society  are  just  what  is  needed  to  show 
us  what  manual  training  schools  are  and  what  they  should 
be ;  and,  if  my  fragmentary  observations  can  aid  in  this 
work,  I  shall  be  very  glad.  I  have  already  expressed  the 
thought  that  the  teacher  is  the  first  consideration  in  every 
manual  training  school ;  and,  in  estimating  the  worth  of  a 
teacher,  I  do  not  for  a  moment  wish  to  undervalue  manual 
skill  or  the  ability  to  impart  information,  but  I  feel 
strongly  that  educational  reasoning  should  control  his  work 
in  practice  as  well  as  theory.  With  this  in  view,  I  have 
carried  on  my  observations  ;  and  I  have  found  in  too  many 
schools  that  secondary  motives  control  the  work.  Let  me 
take  a  few  examples  from  actual  experience. 

A  teacher  of  manual  training  once  said  to  me  :  "  I  in- 
vented my  own  system.  I  change  it  a  little  every  year  as  I 
see  fit.  I  have  been  working  as  a  foreman  in  a  machine 
shop  for  twelve  years,  so  I  know  just  how  to  do  things  in 
the  right  way.  If  anybody  should  copy  my  exercises,  I 
should  change  the  whole  course  in  twenty-four  hours." 

If  that  man  were  to  study  the  character  and  ability  of 
his  pupils,  and  base  his  work  upon  their  individual  needs, 
he  would  find  that  his  "shop-work"  was  but  a  small  pro- 
portion of  what  was  needed  in  the  make-up  of  a  teacher, 
and  that  suitable  courses  of  work  cannot  be  so  speedily 
produced. 

Another  instructor  mentions  his  graduation  from  a  poly- 
technic school  and  his  success  as  a  draughtsman.  To 
him,  "drawing  is  the  climax  of  manual  training";  and  he 
would  spend  much  time  upon  it.  Is  drawing  the  climax 
of  manual  training  ? 

Manual  training  may  develop  the  power  of  right  action 
through  well-directed  movements ;  and  that  power  so 
strengthened  and  developed  is,  to  my  mind,  the  cHmax  of 
manual  training.  Drawing,  as  a  means  of  thought  expres- 
sion, has  its  place  ;  but  it  is  by  no  means  the  climax. 


56 

Another  teacher  says  :  "  This  is  my  method.  First  give 
practical  exercises  with  tools,  then  make  a  finished  object, 
then  a  real  working  drawing  from  that  object."  What 
do  you  think  of  that  method?  Doesn't  it  put  the  cart 
before  the  horse  ? 

Another  says :  "  I  have  a  system  worked  out  at  the 
school,  but  I  have  changed  it  a  little  to  suit  my  taste.  I 
use  Sloyd  for  the  younger  boys  and  the  Russian  system 
for  the  older  ones.  I  keep  my  class  together  to  get  more 
uniform  work  and  to  spare  myself"  What  do  you  sup- 
pose he  means  by  Sloyd?  Should  his  taste  and  conveni- 
ence be  first  considered,  or  the  needs  of  his  pupils  ? 

Another  tells  me  :  "  I  am  an  expert  in  wood-work  and 
drawing.  I  will  guarantee  to  keep  children  interested 
without  ever  making  anything  but  problems."  In  this 
case,  is  it  the  problem  that  arouses  the  interest  or  is  it  the 
teacher?  Another  says  :  "  I  perform  in  my  class  all  the  ex- 
ercises before  the  eyes  of  my  boys,  and  require  them  to  do 
exactly  what  I  have  done.  Then,  you  see,  I  have  time  to 
give  individual  instruction."  Does  not  this  instructor  sub- 
stitute memory  for  mind  ?  A  teacher  of  fifteen  years'  ex- 
perience gives  me  the  following :  "  When  we  are  working 
in  pine  wood,  I  spend  about  one-half  hour  speaking  about 
pine-trees,  their  growth,  leaves,  fruit,  etc.  I  am  more  of  a 
science  teacher  than  a  mechanic,  and  I  will  admit  that 
many  of  the  boys  do  better  work  than  1  do."  Does  this 
teacher  look  upon  muscular  training  as  an  essential  part 
of  manual  training  ?  and,  if  so,  can  he  afford  to  give  less 
than  two  hours  a  week  to  the  exercise  of  muscular  ac- 
tivity ? 

In  the  most  exhaustive  report  which  has  been  issued 
upon  manual  training  in  America  this  statement  appears 
from  the  pen  of  a  well-known  leader  in  this  department : 
"  What  is  known  as  the  *  Russian  Method  '  of  tool  instruc- 
tion consists  of  a  series  of  exercises  based  upon  and  accom- 
panied   by    an    analysis    of   three   things, —  the    tools,  the 


57 

materials,  and  the  elements  of  construction.  If  we  add  to 
this  basis  of  three  things  a  fourth  thing, —  namely,  the  boy 
himself,  his  physical  and  mental  condition, —  we  have  the 
sufficient  basis  for  both  the  method  and  the  content  of 
American  manual  training."  The  instances  which  1  have 
just  cited  illustrate  Professor  Woodward's  description  of 
the  method  and  content  of  American  manual  training. 
They  show  that  exercises,  tools,  drawings,  or  something  of 
that  sort,  are  made  the  basis ;  and  the  boy,  by  an  after- 
thought, is  added  as  the  last  element  in  the  scheme.  If 
these  ideas  were  exactly  reversed  and  the  boy  put  first,  I 
believe  there  would  be  a  revolution  in  means  and  methods 
in  most  manual  training  schools. 


VII. 

MANUAL   TRAINING   AS    A   FACTOR   IN   PHYSICAL 
EDUCATION. 

Paper  read  before  the  Boston  Society  for  the  Advancement  of  Physical  Edu- 
cation, Feb.  II,  1897, 

It  is  very  gratifying  to  me  to  be  invited  to  say  a  few 
words  to  this  learned  society  on  the  possibilities  of  manual 
training  as  a  factor  in  physical  education. 

I  have  devoted  many  years  to  the  study  and  teaching  of 
manual  training,  not  with  a  view  to  rapidly  acquiring  skill, 
but  always  looking  upon  it  as  a  branch  of  general  education. 
I  hope  that  my  strong  interest  in  my  subject,  together  with 
the  pictures  and  tools  I  have  brought  with  me,  will  enable 
me  to  make  my  ideas  clear  to  you.  I  cannot,  of  course, 
answer  for  all  the  methods  of  manual  training  practised  in 
the  schools.  I  shall  only  speak  of  my  own  personal  aims 
and  experience,  and  point  out  the  chief  principles  governing 
that  form  of  manual  training  known  as  Sloyd.  I  shall  en- 
deavor to  show  that  the  promoters  of  Sloyd  have  made 
special  provision  for  promoting  healthy  physical  and  men- 
tal growth  in  its  arrangement  of  exercises  and  in  the  choice 
of  tools  and  material.  I  believe  that  these  facts  have  not 
always  been  understood  by  the  promoters  of  physical  edu- 
cation. As  there  are  many  mistaken  notions  about  Sloyd, 
allow  me  to  state  briefly  what  it  stands  for  and  to  correct 
some  common  misapprehensions  on  the  subject. 

"  Sloyd  is  tool  work,  so  arranged  and  employed  as  to 
stimulate  vigorous,  intelligent  self-activity  for  a  purpose 
which  the  boy  recognizes  as  good."  It  is  not  merely,  as 
some  people  think,  a  system  of  manual  training,  employing 
a  few  small  tools  for  making  a  certain  set  of  small  things 


59 

particularly  adapted  for  small  children.  It  is  a  system 
which  makes  use  of  more  tools  and  more  exercises  than  any 
other  course  of  manual  training  known  to  me ;  and  it  is 
adaptable  to  all  grades  of  schools  which  aim  to  give  a  general 
education.  It  is  a  system  not  based  upon  tools  or  construc- 
tion or  the  making  of  useful  articles  :  it  is  based  upon  the 
needs  and  demands  of  the  growing  child.  It  is  therefore 
a  system  which  cannot  be  taught  with  profit  by  a  mere 
mechanic  or  artisan  any  more  than  educational  gymnastics 
can  be  taught  by  an  athlete.  Sloyd  must  be  taught  by  one 
who  understands  and  appreciates  the  needs  of  children  and 
youth,  their  physical  conditions,  and  their  ways  of  feeling 
and  thinking, —  one  who  is  always  trying,  in  fact,  to  direct 
muscular  and  mental  activity  in  such  a  way  as  to  promote 
the  best  health  and  the  best  thought.  Sloyd  is  based  on 
the  idea  that  no  manual  training  is  educational  in  its  true 
sense,  however  profitable  and  fascinating  its  results  may 
appear  to  be,  unless  it  employs  and  develops  physical 
powers  in  the  right  way.  Certainly,  with  such  considera- 
tions as  its  guide,  manual  training  should  be  a  help  in 
physical  education. 

I  do  not,  however,  for  a  moment  think  that  Sloyd  can 
be  made  to  take  the  place  of  educational  gymnastics ; 
neither  can  educational  gymnastics  take  the  place  of  Sloyd. 
We  need  them  both.  They  are  not  subjects  of  rivalry. 
Educational  gymnastics,  as  I  understand  it,  aims  at  the 
symmetrical  training  of  the  whole  body.  Even  ideal  Sloyd 
cannot  do  all  this,  but  its  effort  is  in  the  same  direction ; 
for,  unlike  some  other  courses  of  manual  training,  it  not 
only  excludes  such  tools  and  exercises  as  would  have  a 
tendency  to  interfere  with  the  natural  growth,  but  it  must 
provide  in  its  tool  work  for  free,  natural,  healthy  exercise  of 
the  larger  muscles,  without  too  much  monotony  and  with 
carefully  graded  resistances. 

About  twelve  years  ago  an  experiment  was  made  at  Naas, 
Sweden,  to  provide  for  the  fuller  developmemt  of  both 


6o 

sides  of  the  body,  by  making  children  work  at  their  Sloyd 
with  the  left  hand  as  well  as  with  the  right.  This  might 
seem  correct,  from  a  physiological  point  of  view,  and  I  be- 
lieve that  we  should,  to  some  extent,  encourage  such  meth- 
ods ;  but  to  keep  this  up  continuously  was  found  not  to 
be  practicable.  In  the  case  of  such  children  as  have  already 
acquired  the  right-handed  habit,  the  disappointment  of 
spoiling  their  tool  work,  while  using  the  left  hand,  is  too 
great,  and  the  work  is  too  much  interrupted.  Much  can 
be,  and  is  done,  however,  looking  to  the  same  result,  by  as 
large  a  use  as  possible  of  tools  which  employ  both  hands 
equally. 

I  have  during  the  past  ten  years  discarded  a  number  of 
models,  chiefly  on  account  of  too  little  opportunity  afforded 
for  the  free  natural  use  of  the  muscles.  By  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  Sloyd,  labor-saving  contrivances  and 
machinery  are  also  practically  excluded.  The  material  re- 
sult obtained  by  the  child  should  be  as  far  as  possible  a  true 
representation  of  his  own  muscular  and  mental  effort ;  and 
this  idea  has,  I  think,  both  a  physical  and  a  moral  signifi- 
cance. 

Another  point  taken  into  consideration  is  the  develop- 
ment of  touch  and  sight  by  introducing  models  of  solid 
forms  with  curved  outlines,  not  susceptible  of  mechanical 
tests.  Some  of  the  methods  employed  in  metal  work,  the 
use  of  the  bracket  saw,  wood-carving,  and  so-called  "  knife 
work "  (which  is  really  cutting*  with  a  cramped  hand  in- 
stead of  free  whittling),  although  convenient  work  in  the 
school-room,  are  examples  of  manual  training  which  give 
little  natural  muscular  development.  Indeed,  I  consider  the 
effect  of  some  of  these  exercises  positively  injurious. 

I  heartily  wish  that  teachers  and  promoters  of  manual 
training  who  are  satisfied  with  the  methods  usually  em- 
ployed might  avail  themselves  of  the  advice  of  physical 
educators,  and  that  a  closer  co-operation  might  exist  be- 
tween the  promoters  of  physical  and  manual  training.      The 


6i 

latter  work  would  then  have  such  supervision  as  would  give 
direct  help  to  teachers. 

In  1890  I  published  a  "  Teacher's  Sloyd  Manual,"  calling 
attention  to  some  of  the  working  positions  most  important 
from  a  hygienic  point  of  view,  with  directions  for  the  use  of 
tools. 

The  next  year  I  had  an  article  In  one  of  the  school  pa- 
pers, showing  the  importance  of  right  postures  and  move- 
ments in  manual  training  ;  but  a  second  illustrated  article  on 
the  same  subject  was  refused  by  an  editor,  who  said  that  he 
did  not  think  there  was  much  interest  in  that  subject,  and 
yet  manual  training  was  being  taken  up,  all  over  the  coun- 
try. During  the  past  eight  years  I  have  had  the  pleasure 
of  teaching  Sloyd  to  over  three  hundred  teachers,  both  men 
and  women.  Most  of  these  teachers  have  been  busy  in 
their  regular  school  work,  and  have  often  come  to  the  Sloyd 
lesson  at  half-past  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  pretty  well 
tired  out  from  their  day's  task.  The  Sloyd  work,  however, 
in  many  cases  has  proved  beneficial  to  them.  While  I 
have  long  believed  that  a  change  of  work  is  sometimes  a 
rest,  I  have  been  surprised  by  the  number  of  these  teachers 
who  have  testified  to  the  gain  in  muscular  strength  and  in 
general  health  obtained  from  the  Sloyd  exercises. 

Several  articles  have  been  published  in  Swedish  on  Sloyd 
^n  relation  to  gymnastics.  Among  others  should  be  men- 
tioned those  by  Professor  Torngren  and  Professor  Key  ;  but 
nothing  so  thoroughly  good  has  appeared,  I  think,  as  the 
publication  from  Naas,  Sweden,  entitled  "  Salomon  and  Silow 
Sloyd  Positions,  with  Directions."  This  work,  with  charts 
and  illustrations,  is  the  result  of  careful  thought  and  inves- 
tigation by  Herr  Otto  Salomon,  of  Naas,  and  Captain  Silow, 
of  the  Royal  Central  Gymnastic  Institute  at  Stockholm. 
As  several  of  the  tools  shown  on  these  charts  differ  some- 
what from  those  we  are  accustomed  to  use  in  this  country, 
I  hope  to  be  able  some  time  in  the  near  future  to  make  a 
few  changes,  and  to  publish  an  American  edition  of  the  book 


62 


and  charts.  I  think  that  these  pictures,  showing  correct 
working  positions  and  pointing  out  to  teachers  the  danger 
of  wrong  methods  of  work,  ought  to  be  in  every  Sloyd 
room,  to  remind  both  pupil  and  teacher  of  the  opportunity 
and  necessity  for  making  manual  training  a  factor  in  physi- 
cal education. 


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VIII. 
MANUAL  TRAINING. 

Paper  read  at  the  meeting  of  the  State  Teachers'  Association  at  Concord, 
N.H.,  Oct.  20,  1900. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  me  to  have  the  opportunity  of  speaking 
to  teachers  on  a  subject  which,  because  of  its  educational  im- 
portance, lies  very  near  to  my  heart.  As  assigned  to  me, 
the  subject  is  "  Manual  Training  "  ;  but  I  much  prefer  to 
substitute  for  this  expression  the  one  word  "  Sloyd,"  which 
means  not  only  manual,  but  mental  training.  I  do  this  be- 
cause I  am  unwilling  to  separate  even  in  words  the  work  of 
the  hand  from  the  work  of  the  brain.  I  will  speak  to  you, 
then,  if  I  may,  on  the  subject  of  Sloyd. 

Although  I  agree  in  a  general  way  with  the  humorist 
who  says, "  It  is  better  not  to  know  so  many  things  that  are 
not  so,"  nevertheless,  because  of  the  accumulated  mis- 
understandings that  surround  Sloyd,  I  shall  begin  by  telling 
you  some  things  that  it  is  not.  I  wish,  at  the  outset,  to 
guard  against  certain  mistaken  notions  as  to  its  theory  and 
practice  that  prevail  in  many  quarters,  and  interfere  with 
a  right  understanding  of  its  principles.  Sloyd  is  not  a  set 
of  objects  peculiar  to  Sweden  or  to  any  other  country.  It 
is  not  merely  a  series  of  models.  It  is  not  a  prescribed 
course  of  exercises.  It  is  not  the  use  of  certain  tools.  It 
is  not  a  fixed  system  arranged  for  certain  grades  of  schools 
or  for  children  of  certain  ages.  Sloyd  is  an  educational 
agent  that  advances  toward  a  definite  aim,  and  bases  its 
activities  upon  universal  educational  principles.  Also,  Sloyd 
is  tool  work  so  arranged  and  employed  as  to  stimulate  and 
promote   vigorous,   intelligent   self-activity   for  a  purpose 


64 

which    the  worker    recognizes    as    good.     It    differs    from 
other  forms  of  manual  training. 

1.  In  aiming  at  ethical  rather  than  at  technical  results, 
and  at  general  organic  development  rather  than  at  special 
skill. 

2.  In  insisting  upon  the  employment  of  professionally- 
trained  teachers  instead  of  persons  with  merely  mechanical 
skill. 

3.  In  advancing  through  rationally  progressive  exercises 
where  the  tools  are  used  to  produce  objects  which  are  not 
only  artistically  good,  but  which  are  also  of  special  interest 
through  their  serviceableness  to  the  worker.  Their  appeal 
to  the  interest  must  be  largely  through  the  good  purpose 
for  which  they  are  fashioned.  In  Sloyd  the  motive  is 
of  supreme  importance. 

4.  In  striving  after  gymnastically  correct  working  posi- 
tions and  in  encouraging  the  use  of  both  the  right  and  left 
sides  of  the  body. 

5.  In  giving  to  each  individual  opportunity  to  progress 
according  to  his  peculiar  ability. 

These  points  have  been  emphasized  in  Sloyd  from  the 
days  of  its  beginning  in  Sweden  over  twenty-five  years  ago  ; 
and,  because  they  are  more  or  less  disregarded  in  other 
forms  of  manual  training,  I  feel  that  the  word  "  Sloyd  "  has 
a  peculiar  significance,  which  we  cannot  afford  to  ignore. 
It  is  needed  to  indicate  something  which  the  term  "  manual 
training  "  does  not  indicate,  and  which  the  words  "  carpen- 
try," "  wood-work,"  and  "  shop-work  "  fail  altogether  to 
convey.  Many  manual  training  teachers  avoid  and  dis- 
courage the  use  of  the  word  "  Sloyd  "  while  they  are  gradu- 
ally adopting  Sloyd  methods  and  models.  Their  opposition 
reminds  one  of  the  prejudice  once  aroused  by  the  term 
"  Kindergarten,"  which  was  denounced  as  a  "  foreign  word," 
"  un-American,"  etc. ;  but,  fortunately,  those  who  cared  for 
the  thing  it  named  held  on  to  it,  and  now  the  expressive 
word  "  Kindergarten"  could  not  be  spared  from  ourvocab- 


65 

ularv.  It  stands  for  something  precious  in  education,  not 
for  something  German  ;  and  "  Sloyd  "  stands  for  something 
precious  in  education,  not  for  something  Swedish. 

Since  Sloyd  is  an  educational  agent,  its  general  aim  must 
be  in  harmony  with  the  general  aim  of  education,  which  I 
take  to  be  the  "  fitting  for  life  "  by  the  development  of 
power.  The  education  of  the  schools  must  supply  an  ele- 
ment that  v/as  not  so  much  needed  during  the  early  years 
of  our  national  existence,  for  the  primitive  farm  life  then 
furnished  a  training  that  is  lacking  in  our  present  mode  of 
living.  We  must  in  some  way  make  good  to  our  children 
the  loss  they  have  sustained,  and  it  is  that  we  may  supply 
this  loss  that  we  advocate  so  earnestly  the  adoption  of  Sloyd 
in  our  schools.  Many  of  our  strongest  and  wisest  men 
owe  their  ability  and  prosperity  to  the  rigorous  nurture  of 
their  early  homes,  to  the  fact  that  useful  manual  occupa- 
tions were  their  birthright.  These  occupations  were  not 
only  of  the  most  vigorous  and  healthful  kind,  which  called 
for  a  high  degree  of  intelligence  and  forethought,  but  they 
were  also  of  a  character  to  strengthen  the  moral  nature 
through  the  development  of  usefulness  and  helpfulness  to 
others.  A  community  that  furnished  such  an  opportunity 
had,  as  I  have  said,  less  need  of  manual  training  in  its 
schools  than  the  people  of  to-day ;  for  now  conditions  of 
living  are  so  changed  that  bodily  activity,  of  the  sort  I  have 
mentioned,  rarely  exists  in  the  home.  Cheap,  machine- 
made  goods  take  the  place  of  hand-wrought  articles.  Hand- 
work, even  upon  the  farm,  is  reduced  to  the  minimum, 
while  in  the  city  its  place  is  largely  usurped  by  labor-saving 
inventions.  As  a  natural  consequence,  our  boys  and  girls 
suffer.  They  suffer  for  the  training  which  quickened  the 
senses,  which  gave  true  eyes,  steady  nerves  and  hands,  as 
well  as  strong  muscles,  and  which  also  developed  that  sense 
of  responsibility,  self-respect,  and  independence  which  is  the 
outcome  of  work  recognized  by  children  as  useful.  We 
contend  that  the  school  should  provide  this  training.     The 


66 

neglect  of  such  provision  is  a  wrong  to  childhood  which  can 
never  be  atoned  for  in  later  life  ;  for  "  there  is  a  tide  in  the 
affairs"  of  boys  and  girls  (as  well  as  of  men)  which  must 
be  taken  at  its  flood.  The  period  of  greatest  muscular 
growth,  when  the  brain  is  also  developing  through  muscu- 
lar activity,  is  that  flood-tide ;  and  it  is  during  this  period 
that  all  children  should  be  provided  with  carefully  consid- 
ered manual  training. 

The  necessity  of  utilizing  man's  ph^^sical  powers  in  de- 
veloping him  into  a  complete  being  has  been  recognized 
for  many  centuries  and  by  widely  separated  peoples  ;  and,  if 
it  be  true,  as  has  been  said,  that  "  the  duty  of  each  genera- 
tion is  to  gather  up  the  inheritance  of  the  past,  and  thus  to 
serve  the  present  and  prepare  better  things  for  the  future," 
we  cannot  neglect  the  consideration  of  manual  training. 
More  than  two  thousand  years  ago  the  celebrated  Chinese 
philosopher  Confucius  practised  bodily  exercises  and  games, 
and  laid  great  stress  upon  self-activity  and  invention  in 
dealing  with  his  pupils.  He  enjoined  upon  them  a  knowl- 
edge of  things  before  words,  and  he  discountenanced  learning 
by  memory  only.  The  cultured  Greeks  made  the  bodily 
training  of  youth  the  most  important  feature  of  their  edu- 
cation. Martin  Luther,  in  his  vigorous  fashion,  contended 
that  every  boy  should  learn  some  handicraft  while  at  school. 
The  old  Swedish  catechism  contained  a  sentence  which,  I 
regret  to  say,  is  omitted  in  the  new.  It  ran  thus  :  "Work 
promotes  health  and  wealth,  withholds  from  many  a  sin, 
strengthens  against  many  a  temptation,  and  gives  consola- 
tion and  peace  of  mind  in  the  evil  days." 

In  the  teachings  of  all  educational  reformers  the  necessity 
of  bodily  training  and  activity  is  emphasized.  Comenius 
laid  great  stress  upon  it,  as  did  Rousseau,  Pestalozzi,  Her- 
bart,  Frobel,  and  Cygnasus. 

Neither  is  the  present  time  lacking  in  able  defenders  of 
the  rights  of  childhood  in  this  matter.  Professor  William 
James  says,  "  The  most  colossal  improvement  which  recent 


^7 

years  have  seen  in  secondary  education  lies  in  the  intro- 
duction of  the  manual  training  schools, —  not  because  they 
will  give  us  a  people  more  handy  and  practical  for  domestic 
life  and  better  skilled  in  trades,  but  because  they  will  give 
us  citizens  with  an  entirely  different  intellectual  fibre." 
Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall,  whom  you  all  know,  demonstrates 
the  physiological  and  psychological  importance  of  giving 
room  for  the  free  play  of  the  natural  interests  of  boys  and 
girls  in  our  schemes  of  education.  Professor  John  H. 
Tylor,  in  tracing  the  evolution  of  man,  shows  that  educa- 
tion is  incomplete  without  manual  training.  Indeed,  most 
of  the  modern  physiologists  and  psychologists  demonstrate 
the  value  of  Sloyd,  although  they  may  never  use  that 
word. 

It  was  to  supply  this  recognized  need  that  the  famous 
school  for  the  training  of  Sloyd  teachers  was  established  at 
Naas. 

In  harmony  with  this  effort  in  Sweden  the  Sloyd  Train- 
ing School  which  I  have  the  honor  to  represent  was  estab- 
lished in  Boston.  It  is  a  free  school  for  teachers,  supported 
by  Mrs.  Quincy  Shaw.  The  requirements  for  admission 
to  the  school  are  graduation  from  a  normal  school,  or  train- 
ing and  experience  equivalent  to  this.  The  course  covers 
one  short  school  year  of  eight  months,  from  October  i 
to  June  I,  with  five  hours,  daily  session.  Nearly  two 
hundred  teachers  have  been  graduated  from  the  school 
during  the  twelve  years  of  its  existence,  and  most  of  them 
are  now  engaged  in  teaching  the  subject  in  different  parts 
of  this  country.  By  an  approximate  estimate  about  twenty- 
two  thousand  pupils  are  now  (1900)  receiving  instruction  in 
Sloyd  from  the  graduates  of  this  school. 

Externally,  American  Sloyd  may  appear  to  differ  from 
Swedish  Sloyd ;  but  in  reality  they  are  one,  for  they 
are  one  in  principle.  Their  dissimilarity  is  only  such 
as  must  arise  from  this  very  principle,  which  is  that 
methods  will  always  vary  with  varying  conditions.     Never- 


68 

theless  there  is  a  certain  similarity  of  method  (which  all  who 
will  look  below  the  surface  must  recognize)  characterizing 
the  work  of  those  who  hold  to  the  same  principle.  The 
Swedish  models  are  objects  which  Swedish  boys  take  pleas- 
ure in  making.  The  models  which  have  been  contrived  for 
American  boys,  some  of  which  I  shall  show  you,  are  objects 
which  have  proved  to  be  of  interest  to  American  boys. 
The  test  of  the  value  of  any  course  of  models  is  the  amount 
of  stimulus  which  they  furnish  to  the  activity  of  each  boy 
who  undertakes  to  make  them. 

I  trust  I  have  afforded  you  some  arguments  that  will 
help  establish  our  claims  for  the  value  of  Sloyd  for  all  boys 
and  girls  in  all  schools.  I  am  sure  that,  with  the  right  kind 
of  teacher,  the  results  it  will  help  to  produce  will  be  the 
harmonious  and  simultaneous  development  of  heart,  head, 
and  hand. 


IX. 

AN    ANSWER    TO    SOME    OF   THE    COMMON    OB- 
JECTIONS  TO   SLOYD. 

Read  at  the  meeting  of  the  Marlborough  Teachers'  Association,  Feb.    lo, 
1902. 

I  congratulate  any  community  which  is  planning  to  in- 
troduce manual  training  into  the  schools.  I  beheve  that 
every  child  is  by  birthright  entitled  to  an  opportunity  for 
manual  training  as  a  part  of  his  education.  I  believe,  also, 
that  any  subject  under  discussion,  whether  it  be  educa- 
tional, social,  political,  or  industrial,  can  be  satisfactorily 
settled  only  when  we  consider  its  general  effect  for  the  bet- 
terment of  mankind.  The  aim  of  education,  briefly  and 
broadly  speaking,  is  to  make  human  beings  healthier  and 
happier  at  the  same  time  that  it  gives  them  command  of  all 
their  powers.  This  of  course  is  the  general  aim  of  educa- 
tion :  it  should  consequently  be  the  aim  of  manual  train- 
ing. That  form  of  manual  training  in  which  I  am  espe- 
cially interested,  and  of  which  I  shall  speak  to  you  this 
evening,  is  what  is  called  Sloyd. 

Sloyd  is  an  educational  movement  based  upon  universal 
educational  principles,  and  having  a  definite  educational  aim 
in  view. 

It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  the  first  essential  for  Sloyd 
is  the  true  teacher ;  that  is,  one  who  is  fitted  by  natural 
gifts  and  special  training  for  the  care,  not  only  of  the 
human  body,  but  also  of  human  souls.  Like  other  educa- 
tional movements,  it  has  sometimes  failed  for  lack  of  this 
essential.  Mechanics  and  artisans,  however  skilful  and 
well  meaning,  are  not  likely  to  be  the  best  persons  to  be 
intrusted  with   the  education   of  youth.     The  true   Sloyd 


70 

teacher  must  be  a  student  of  child  Hfe ;  he  must  under- 
stand children,  and  know  how  to  appeal  constantly  to  the 
best  that  is  in  them,  and  how  to  provide  wisely  for  the 
vigorous  use  of  growing  muscles  in  such  a  way  as  to  secure 
a  normal  physical  development  as  well  as  mental  alertness, 
pure  taste,  and  right  feeling. 

In  regard  to  teachers  of  manual  training  Dr.  C.  Hanford 
Henderson  says  :  "  It  is  difficult  to  find  men  and  women  of 
broad  culture  who  can  also  use  their  hands.  It  is  very  easy 
to  find  artisans  who  are  willing  to  exchange  the  smaller  pay 
and  longer  hours  of  the  shop  for  the  pleasanter  work  of 
the  school-room.  They  believe  very  sincerely  that  the  only 
qualification  is  the  ability  to  turn  out  good  work.  I  admire 
their  dexterity,  I  respect  their  earnestness  ;  but  I  say  to  them, 
and  I  say  to  you,  that  this  is  not  enough."  "  His  [the 
artisan's]  skill  is  in  handHng  dead  material.  What  we  want 
is  something  different  from  this :  it  is  a  man  whose  thought 
is  on  the  process,  whose  cunning  is  in  the  handling  of  the 
living  material,  the  tissue  of  childhood." 

The  worth  of  a  Sloyd  teacher  is  best  judged  by  watching 
his  pupils  at  work, —  by  their  physical  attitude,  by  their 
interest,  and  by  the  motives  which  incite  them,  as  well  as 
by  their  ability  in  using  tools  and  producing  correct  work. 

What  is  accomplished  should  not  be  commended  unless 
we  know  why  it  was  accomplished  and  how. 

Thus,  as  we  have  seen,  Sloyd  is  to  be  interpreted  by  its 
aim  and  principles,  and  not  by  its  outward  expression. 
Like  many  of  our  school  subjects,  it  has  both  its  formative 
and  its  utilitarian  sides.  Perhaps  they  may  be  described  as 
follows.     On  the  educational  side  it  may  be  said  :  — 

1.  That  Sloyd  arouses  self-respect,  and  instills  respect  for 
all  honest  labor. 

2.  It  develops  self-reliance,  concentration,  and  the  power 
to  make  and  execute  a  plan. 

3.  It  develops  habits  of  order,  accuracy,  and  neatness. 

4.  It  develops  the  sesthetic  sense,  the  power  to  judge 
rightly  as  to  beauty  of  form  and  proportion. 


71 

5.  It  develops  right  feeling  by  stimulating  the  desire  to 
be  useful,  and  by  its  appeal  to  the  affections  through  the 
cultivation  of  consideration  for  others. 

6.  It  strengthens  the  will  by  offering  such  a  motive  as 
will  induce  a  boy  to  work  hard,  and  steadily  to  overcome 
increasing  but  carefully  graded  difficulties. 

In  cultivating  the  senses  of  touch  and  of  sight  it  certainly 
is  both  educational  and  utilitarian  in  its  aim  ;  but  its  more 
peculiarly  utilitarian  results  are  dexterity  in  the  use  of  tools 
and  the  ability  and  desire  to  be  useful. 

In  spite  of  its  educational  effectiveness,  some  popular 
objections  to  Sloyd  are  often  brought  forv/ard.  The  follow- 
ing are  the  most  common  objections  to  manual  training  in 
general,  and  of  course  also  to  Sloyd  :  — 

1.  Danger  that  the  ordinary  school  studies  may  be  neg- 
lected by  taking  time  for  Sloyd. 

2.  The  large  expense  involved. 

3.  Making  the  education  of  our  children  a  training  which 
fits  them  to  become  artisans. 

4.  "  Why  should  we  have  Sloyd,  when  our  ancestors 
succeeded  so  well  without  it  ?  " 

Not  a  single  one  of  these  objections,  however,  is  raised 
by  educators  who  understand  the  nature  of  the  child  and 
who  have  a  clear  knowledge  of  the  educational  possibilities 
of  Sloyd. 

Since  this  is  true,  it  is  only  necessary  for  me  to  consider 
these  objections  very  briefly  :  — 

First.  That  time  can  be  taken  for  Sloyd  without  injury 
to  the  common  school  studies  has  been  proved  over  and 
over  again  in  places  where  the  matter  has  been  adequately 
tested.  Even  when  the  time  has  been  taken  directly  from 
the  ordinary  studies,  the  increased  ability  to  grasp  the  other 
subjects  has  more  than  made  up  for  the  loss  of  time. 

A  child  who  turns  from  books  to  tools  continues  to  think. 
He  v/ill  think  more  clearly,  and  he  will  reach  a  more  de- 
finite end  by  his  thinking,  if  the  problem  is  before  him  in 


72 

concrete  form  as  it  is  in  Sloyd,  than  if  he  has  to  consider 
an  abstract  problem  such  as  is  given  him  in  books.  We 
should  do  well  to  follow  Horace  Mann's  advice,  "  Give 
one-half  of  the  school  time  to  creating  a  desire  to  learn, 
and  you  will  teach  more  than  by  devoting  all  to  books." 
In  addition  to  the  fact  that  the  pupil's  interest  is  greatest  in 
the  concrete  problem,  it  has  been  scientifically  proved  that 
mind  as  well  as  body  is  strengthened  by  judicious  physical 
exercise.  It  is  also  true  that,  although  the  overworked 
student  may  be  earnestly  thinking  out  his  Sloyd  problem 
(and  I  have  the  testimony  of  many  teachers,  themselves 
students  of  Sloyd,  that  this  same  Sloyd  problem  in  wood 
costs  them  more  careful  thinking  than  had  ever  been  given 
to  their  algebra,  Greek,  or  Latin),  nevertheless  I  believe 
that  the  change  from  hours  of  sitting  still  to  the  vigorous 
physical  activity  of  Sloyd  affords  such  relief  that  some  of 
the  evils  of  over-study  may  be  counteracted  thereby. 

A  well-known  principal  of  a  high  school  once  said  to 
me  that  he  believed  that  he  could  prepare  his  students  for 
college  in  half  the  time  usually  taken,  provided  the  other 
half  be  given  to  well-directed  manual  training.  Time  is 
thus  gained,  not  lost.  Old  Bishop  Comenius's  idea  of 
teaching  may  be  well  applied  here.  "  It  is  to  seek  and  find 
a  method  of  instruction  by  which  teachers  may  teach  less, 
but  learners  learn  more,  to  inspire  the  children  with  the 
love  of  learning  and  to  bring  greater  happiness  to  mankind 
through  active  doing." 

Second  objection :  The  expense.  It  is  true  that  the 
outfit  of  a  Sloyd  room  costs  a  good  deal,  but  the  running 
expenses  are  very  light.  For  a  class  of  twenty  pupils  the 
outfit,  consisting  of  the  best  benches  and  tools,  will  cost 
about  ^425,  and  the  running  expenses  about  75  cents  a 
child  for  the  year.  In  addition  to  this  will  be  the  salary  of 
the  Sloyd  teachers,  which  probably  will  be  a  little  more  than 
that  of  the  ordinary  teachers  in  the  community.  With  such 
equipment,  two  hundred  children  weekly  can  be  taught  by 


73 

one  teacher.  The  time  given  to  each  child  is  generally  one 
lesson  a  week  of  two  hours. 

When  the  educational  value  of  this  subject  is  understood 
and  appreciated,  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  raise  funds  for  it 
because  it  will  be  believed  that  the  money  will  be  well  in- 
vested. In  the  country  from  which  I  came  (Sweden)  they 
not  only  have  Sloyd  for  the  public  school-children  in  the 
large  cities  :  it  is  also  provided  for  in  the  country  schools. 
In  Russia,  which  country  we  are  perhaps  accustomed  to 
think  of  as  little  interested  in  educational  matters,  the  so- 
called  Russian  method  of  manual  training  has  been  replaced 
by  Sloyd.  The  Sloyd  is  prospering  in  England.  Many 
teachers  go  to  Naas,  Sweden,  for  short  holiday  courses  ;  and 
similar  courses  are  held  in  various  parts  of  the  country  un- 
der the  auspices  of  the  Sloyd  Association  of  Great  Britain 
and  England.  In  Germany  there  are  at  present  836 
schools  and  institutes  which  conduct  the  manual  training 
on  a  pedagogical  basis.  In  Canada,  through  the  generosity 
of  one  man.  Sir  William  C.  Macdonald,  of  Montreal,  pro- 
vision has  been  made  for  Sloyd  for  three  years  at  one  cen- 
tre in  each  of  the  seven  provinces,  including  the  expense 
of  qualified  teachers.  Report  has  recently  come  to  us 
that  in  Chili,  South  America,  a  school  is  established  for 
the  training  of  teachers  in  Sloyd  for  the  public  schools. 
In  the  Argentine  Republic,  also,  Sloyd  is  established.  In 
Porto  Rico  and  various  other  places  it  has  gained  a  foot- 
hold. From  the  Commissioner  of  Education  in  Cuba  has 
just  come  the  request  that  we  should  take  yearly  at  our 
school  in  Boston  six  native  Cubans  to  train  as  Sloyd  teach- 
ers for  that  island.  Already  four  teachers  from  our  school 
are  employed  there.  If  in  all  these  places  the  expense  of 
Sloyd  work  has  not  been  too  great  a  burden,  surely  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  whose  boast  it  is  that  nothing 
is  too  good  for  their  public  schools,  ought  to  be  able  to 
meet  the  expense. 

Third  objection :     It  is  a  misconception  that    Sloyd  is 


74 

chiefly  calculated  to  make  artisans  and  bread-winners  :  it  is 
a  misconception,  however,  which  is  sometimes  received  with 
great  favor.  By  some  persons  it  is  considered  a  drawback 
to  progress  in  culture.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have  fre- 
ouent  visits  from  parents  of  the  children  at  our  school 
who  say,  "How  good  it  is  for  my  boy  to  learn  all  this,  so 
that  he  can  make  his  own  living  when  he  leaves  school !  " 
It  is  difficult  to  explain  to  these  people  just  what  our  object 
is,  because  it  is  natural  for  certain  parents  always  to  look 
upon  the  boy  as  a  bread-winner ;  and,  moreover,  I  gladly 
admit  that  he  will  be  better  able  to  make  his  living  when 
he  has  had  this  training  than  if  he  had  not  received  it. 
Nevertheless,  the  teacher's  duty  is  a  far  higher  one  than 
simply  to  make  of  a  boy  a  bread-winner  in  some  specific 
way.  The  business  of  the  public  school  is  to  train  all  the 
faculties  of  the  child,  that  he  may  be  more  ready  to  grapple 
with  any  situation  in  life ;  and  I  firmly  believe  that  a  boy 
who  has  had  good  Sloyd  training  is  thereby  better  fitted 
not  only  for  an  artisan,  but  also  better  fitted  to  become 
a  physician,  lawyer,  or  clergyman  because  of  the  improved 
mental,  moral,  and  physical  training  he  has  obtained 
through  his  hands.  As  to  Sloyd's  being  considered  a 
drawback  to  general  culture,  I  would  say  this :  If  a  boy 
learns  to  use  tools,  he  will  not  necessarily  follow  the  pursuit 
of  a  mechanic ;  he  will  not  be  debarred  from  rising  in  the 
world.  Many  persons  are  kept  down  in  this  world  through 
ignorance  and  want  of  skill ;  but  I  have  never  seen  nor 
heard  of  any  man  who  was  kept  down  by  knowledge  and 
skill  rightly  employed.  To  say  that  to  teach  a  boy  the 
use  of  tools  will  force  him  to  become  a  mechanic  is  like 
saying  that,  if  a  boy  is  trained  in  gymnastics,  he  must  be- 
come an  athlete,  or  that,  if  he  is  taught  to  skate,  dance,  or 
ride,  he  must  earn  his  bread  by  these  occupations. 

I  have  already  mentioned  that  it  is  sometimes  urged  to 
its  discredit  that  Sloyd  is  a  new  thing  which  our  honorable 
ancestors  did  not  know  anything  about,  and  without  which 


75 

they  reached  a  high  state  of  culture  and  skill,  and  had 
such  command  of  their  powers  as  enabled  them  to  meet  any 
emergency.  It  is  also  said  that  what  was  good  enough  for 
the  father  is  good  enough  for  the  son.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered, however,  that  the  conditions  of  living  are  now  very 
different  from  those  of  earlier  times  ;  that  there  is  hardly 
any  opportunity  to  engage  in  those  healthy,  natural  indus- 
trial pursuits  which  were  opened  to  every  boy  and  girl  fifty 
years  ago.  While  we  have  prospered  on  the  industrial  and 
the  economic  side  through  the  rapid  progress  of  inventions 
in  the  way  of  machinery,  the  faculties  of  the  human  mind 
still  require  the  strong  and  effective  nurture  characteristic 
of  the  olden  time,  and  which  the  necessities  of  living  then 
furnished.  Our  system  of  education  must  supply  this  need 
if  we  would  produce  through  it  the  same  strong  type  of 
manhood  and  womanhood. 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  add  that,  although  I  fully  believe 
in  the  necessity  of  Sloyd  for  all  our  children,  I  have  not 
said,  nor  do  I  believe,  that  Sloyd  is  the  one  remedy  for 
every  evil  in  our  schools. 

I  do  believe,  however,  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  effec- 
tive agents  in  general  education,  and  that  it  supplies  a  need 
which  at  present  is  not  filled  by  anything  else. 


NORMAL    COURSE   IN   SLOYD. 


».I,.,.S 

"""'°«"«"- 

—'— " 

•"S£rr:?^££-"' 

KS;=Ei= 

-^-..j_Js,-!.ss,s: 

"sc^p.;;.r's..'s:,.!"s 

'■"S£™:""™ 

1.  Mrfg. 

"""**  "'"""*■ 

1.  Siraigbt-ifhilUuis. 
3-  Crw» 

J.  Sloyd*  Knife,  blade  3".         40 

White  Pmo.4"Joo6 

..„..„.. 

...... 

4-  Whittling  a  CfUDdcr. 

J.  Painl'Wbillling 

(S.  S»ndpapering  wilhoul  BIock 

■'■ 

-sr"  •^■'  ■   0, 

White  Pine.t".    JJ9 

,.„.„.,. 

,.-.,...■. 

7.  Rip-Mwing. 

8.  Narmw  Surf.ce  Plining 

9.  Squring- 
ra  Ganging 

.. 

i.  Splilting-MW.    21-.    8 

6.  Jack-plane.  14-,  BaUy, 

7.  Tnr-j^oare,    6".    iron- 

boond.                             .53 

8.  Marliing-gauge,     oval. 

head.                                  .25 

White  Pine.  i.    09 

.,r„.,.,. 

7i-.r-c 

11.  Boring  with  Dhllbit 

12.  Fitting  4  P«g. 
ij.  Cnne-wbiitling 

..3.=.. 

-^;?^- '.: 

lJonipeni,tir^inim..J 

...,™. 

■f/.ii-Ji- 

14.  Crosscul-sawing, 

IJ.  End  Planing  in  B«nch-hooli. 

'■-"•■ 

12.  Blockf  lue,  7".  Oiilf, 

.5.  sid^rVod,.             "5 

Whit.  Pine. »-. 

.c,.,..„,„. 

.sC'il-T 

18.  Cune-Mwing. 

10.  Boring  with  Brad  Awt. 

,..,.,o.,s.„..3.... 

17.  Spokah»«.'lron!               .15 

T«i'^™L  ■"'' 

,..„..... 

i6->7r.r- 

12.  Testing  with  WindJng-tticks, 

13,  Vertical  ChiMlling, 
2|.  Filing 

■'■-■'■—'• 

19.   CK)»tM*lW.    1J-.    to 

Whit.  Pine.  1-. 

,,.„. 

.;x6   .11  . 

U   sJ^'  Nail. 

„,...,....,„.... 

:',.  Ni"s',','i,„;io; poioi!    :!J 

White  Wood.  |- 
llpUerxl 

,..,c.,r 

i;.  Halved-tcgelhtr  Joinl. 

'<■„'■  «•  »■  '"■  '■-■  -■'■  •'■ 

- 

While  Pine,  l". 

,...„... 

i.-«s»-«ir 

jisr"""' 

■■■'■=™ 

»^^?^-  s 

uidCheiTT.  l-i.lS 
iPruniUMrobnn.) 

„.„„..,.„... 

■•-•■•■ 

33,  Modelling     witl.    Smooibing 

Plane  »nd  Spokubave. 
34   Sc -aping. 

U.  7.  8.  9.  ■».  15.  18.  ■9. 

^^'     B^'iy,  iron.       *'       '       1,35 

iTtgas  femgine^) 

,.c.„..».,. 

.....,.r. 

^*      Spokejliave 

','';":";'''',■'''' 'i' 

-—-■ 

Whit.  Phie.  1-. 

■=  ..i-.i 

36.  Oblique  Planing. 

V.!:S.^.iS.^-" 

- 

Eeeeh.  r 

.„.  K,,bo„d. 

,..-..... 

g.gg.,.hD«„, 

■"■-■---' 

Sweel  Gnn,,  I-,     odl 
(Uquiduntnt  aty- 

•■;.  P.p.r-k.B. 

■™- 

40,  WedgepUning. 

41.  Making     Edge    with    Spoli«- 

ll?:-f^„..       ::i 

""«''  ''huiniJ' 

-~ 

......,„, 

44.  Ij^sh.  Edge^B««llmg. 

14.7.  .,..0. ,,.j,,„. 

36.  Ste«l  Figore*.  ^,".               .62 

Mhple.  J-, 

-  — 

ijfi.t  .11-. 

46.  Pluiing  a  Cylinder 

"V'Al;,'?;;ji:!iS 

White  Pine.  r. 

■"- 

-»■-■■ 

.,.7.8„„.„.=7....7. 

37.  Moniie-nage.                     .60 
3S.  Mallet.  Hickorr,                   .10 

White  Pioe,  r 

■'   — 

i>-.r.]i 

SO.  Fitting    and   Nwling   Square 
Joinu- 

H.  7.  ■!.  8.  5.  .0,15,16. 
36,  17,  :s.  =<• 

- 

Whitewood.  K 

.„   p„,,„j 

..r..,..- 

5..Gr«.ving«itb00.ge 

K  7  8  0  10  1           61 

F           C 

S..«Go,h,i-,   4171 

39                       8*.    t                ^7 

81   »!»-.» 

52.  Hilf.lap  Joint 

53.  Rabbeting  with  CbU«l. 
54    Fattening  Hingi 

,..,.8..,.,.5,„,.5, 

- 

St....  Cum.  1 -.   4.61 

.,-..-.1 

,,c..,^^. 

"■jj:°i.y,°i'i7-""' 

handle.        '                       .10 

Chetn.  r 

•--— 

«-.«-.,■,• 

56.  RabbeiiDg  with  Plaoe 

57.  Mitring. 

U.  7.  8,  »  10.  !„.  ji.  =5. 

41.  Rabbet  Plane.  Stanley. 

(Jugl.ti4  nigra.! 

.„.  B»l>h^,„ 

»>-..r-.6i- 

^5,  HAU.dov,tail  Grooving 

„., .-.,..0,  :S,lS, 

— 

While  Pine.  ,-M-. 

-- 

91-.JI-111-. 

W.  Venieal  Googing, 

60.  Cfllllng  with  Drawing  knilB. 

"i;:L.';;.'Mn-..t,','^ 

taioTbladft  '■       '   ■        ^, 

Chen^, !',            .10 

;-.6|-.ir 

.,.,.,.  .....uu,,, 

■•■,ki::fl  "■■'■•'■ 

— 

gteeet  Coin,  f- 

■'■  — 

i.t-.<r.<A- 

6:.  Plain  Jointing 

■'il;||:!.Vllf:l;: 

4:    Jointer  Plane. ir. iron.     147 

('n8S°.Sne^..r 

-"— 

■'■■■■'•-■■ 

S:?,^^^"^""'"" 

"■.J.-SSrif,':'"'"- 

4;.  Hatching  Plane,  iron,  t",    r.So 
40.  Cibintt-inakcn' ClaroiK, 

3'.                                       -Ci 

White  Pint  r. 

•--""" 

IS-. ,!)-.. Sl- 

6S!  MoniMd  Bli^lung. 

"i;:j';,°;.','i.f.At 

47-  Pbw    PUne.   Stanley. 

No.  45.                             J.76 

White  Pinnr. 

j»  Tr., 

.6-..V.-.X- 

n:Piria-"»™ 

"jfi'riil'r'ill 

- 

Buttemot.  1'. 

'■— ■' 

.•:r.i](-.«l- 

73    HalfUind  Dovwilling 
74.  Fitting  Hinga  ud  Lock 

■'.?:;;;;^4f^^.a: 

*"  >n'i,°"Bo"o'N;i.",;.d.    '° 

wb...  pin»  r. 

SUGGESTIONS  MADE  IX  1896  TO  TEACHERS  OF  THE  HIGHER 
GRAMMAR  GRADES,  WHERE  THE  TIME  GIVEN  TO  SLOVD 
IS    LIMITED    TO   TWO    HOURS    A    WEEK. 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara  College  Library 
Santa  Barbara,  California 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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lllim^.'iL".™."KiO'JAL  DBRAR 


A     000  579  365 


XI* 

187 
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